From Doomsday to Doomsday
by YuKanda
Summary: A Japanese Officer, Kanda Yuu,is assigned against his will to the Third Reich's SS, and has to comply with unpleasant orders. During one of this tasks he meets Lavi, whose relative gets arrested, letting loose a chain reaction. Kanda/Lavi WWII
1. Chapter 1: Burning Books

**DISCLAIMER: I don't own D. Gray-man, all belong to Hoshino sensei... If it was otherwise... Lavi and Kanda should have been together from a VERY LONG TIME! **

**WARNING: YAOI - if you don't know what this word means, or if you don't like boy/boy relationship this story is not for you, don't say I didn't tell you! You know the song, DON'T LIKE DON'T READ!**

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_**WARNING N.2!**_** Mention of racism and violence (this is mainly in later chapters)! Please note that I in no way am encouraging or approving of racism. It's just that to keep the story as possibly close to its historical period, I must use terms, ways of thinking, and behaviors proper of the factions involved in WWII. So, if references to Nazism or to its ideology is offensive to you, please refrain from reading. I don't want flames about it. I want to make it clear that I don't approve in any way Nazi's actions and that I'm not a racist, I'm just using the historical setting as a background. **

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Well, I know that maybe this AU could be a little far from the usual view of the WWII that everyone have, but I can't help it, Kanda is Japanese, so he belongs to the Axis... Sorry about that^^;;

And, as always, it's Kanda/Lavi or LaviYuu, whatever you wanna put it.

Now, beta this time is _**Annette Aoi**_, thank you SO much for your precious help and your willingness to explain things to me! *BOWS*

What else to say?

Enjoy!

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**FROM DOOMSDAY TO DOOMSDAY**

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**Chapter 1: Burning Books**

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Kanda walked quickly down the corridor leading to the office of General Tiedoll, wondering what else could have happened to make them call him with so much urgency.

Ever since that damnable war had started (1), he had a really bad feeling about the implications coming with it. Then, when Japan expressed the intention to join the fucking Alliance (2), he had been chosen as a sacrificial victim to please the German future allies.

He hadn't had a moment of peace; each day was a different problem, a rebellion in a different place, spies and collaborators to eradicate...

He believed that his duty was only to work with the high German officials to stem the leak of information that recently plagued both their armies but realized pretty soon that he was almost at the same level of a hostage, and he didn't like that at all.

First of all, he was practically forced to wear a German uniform instead of his own with the justification of 'so not discomfort people'. Second, he was assigned completely to Schutzstaffel's (3) special unit with executive powers and all related duties. Not that serving with the so feared SS troubled him that much; he just found it extremely annoying to have to deal with tasks that had absolutely no relation with his own nation.

He knocked on General Tiedoll's door. General Tiedoll was a very weird man in his opinion, too easygoing and tender hearted to be a General of the Reich. So, he wasn't surprised that much when rumors were reported to him that the man had French origins.

Tiedoll's always cordial voice invited him to enter, and Kanda slowly opened the door, presenting for a formal report as befitted with someone of such high rank.

"Oh, Yuu-kun, it's you. I was waiting for you. Sit down." The man waved his hand, pointing to the chair in front of the massive desk.

The General's manner irritated the Japanese youth more every day, but the man was his superior, and he couldn't threaten him as he would with any other person. Kanda suppressed a sharp comment about this informal use of his first name. He just tightened his jaw and sat down where he had been shown to sit.

"I would like to ask to not use my name so thoughtlessly," the black haired youth said simply.

"Oh, but why, Yuu-kun? All my soldiers are like sons to me, you know." Tiedoll whined shamelessly, looking at him with teary eyes.

_"Che." _The sound escaped his lips before Kanda could stop it. "Why have you convened me with such urgency?" He asked flatly.

"I received orders from the Central Command, directly from the Chancellor's office. And they're not pleasant." Revealed the man, shaking his head sadly.

"What is enjoyable in a war?" Kanda retorted sarcastically. "So what?" He added, casting the General an impatient look.

"There's some 'cleaning' to do between Jewish sympathizers." Tiedoll finally said, sighing.

"What a news." The Japanese man spat out in a harsh tone.

"This time Hitler wants to give a clear example to all those who spread written material judged offensive to the Reich; your task is to gather as many books as possible containing those subversives texts, and then burn them in the main square for everybody's eyes to see."

"Fantastic." Kanda raised his hand to his face. "Who will be my interpreter this time? My knowledge of German language is still very limited."

"I will ensure there's someone able to understand your orders. Don't worry." Tiedoll reassured him paternally, which Kanda hated more than anything else, after his insistence to call him by his first name.

How the man learned his language was a mystery, but he could use it enough to irritate him, and this was a fact.

"Very well. Is that all?" The Japanese youth couldn't wait taking leave to mentally prepare himself for the terrible nuisance that expected him shortly after.

"Yes, you can go for now. I'll send you an orderly within a couple of hours. Start from the Central Library, and then search through all the places in this list." The General handed him a sheet, which Kanda read with feigned interest.

"Will be done." The Japanese officer said, rising. Then greeted him by standing to attention, and Tiedoll nodded, smiling.

"I'll wait for your report tomorrow evening." the young man nodded his head as agreement and left the room.

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"_Goodness knows what idiot will fall on me this time,"_ Kanda wondered, disappointed beyond words as he headed back to his office. "_Although I was aggregated to Sicherheitsdienst (4), I find myself doing these vapid propaganda tasks."_

The Japanese youth missed the reasons why he was always involved to resolve these things concerning the intellectual wing opposing the regime. Then a thought flashed him. "_What if... if the leak was right here? Perhaps they suspect that there's something big behind this and hope that I'll remove the chestnuts from the fire for them."_

"_Che._" Kanda snorted, his face darkening even more. "_They're just using me..."_ He mentally added.

This thought greatly worsened Kanda's mood, whom violently closed his office's door behind him.

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After the five minutes that his temporary orderly reached him, Kanda had already wanted to kill the guy. A damn rookie, which among other things knew Japanese language as much as he knew German!

He cursed under his breath as they headed to the Central Library to complete what their orders stated. No one opposed or showed resistance to the books confiscation because they were unaware of what their destiny would be, Kanda said to himself, otherwise... Well, it would have been much more problematic.

They visited every place whose name was on Tiedoll's list, seizing a tremendous amount of volumes; almost all six of the trucks that made up their convoy were filled up with them now.

However, the last bookstore's keeper created them some problems, damn old man with dark circles! First of all, he asked too many questions that Kanda had no intention to answer. Secondarily, he opposed the seizure of his beloved books with a stubbornness that bordered on ridiculous. And he knew his language! Moreover, he understood him and answered back!

"Listen to me, old man. I have neither the time nor the desire to argue with you." Kanda hissed angrily, exasperated by the insistence of the old bookseller. "I'm just executing orders, and I can't make exceptions. Now step the fuck aside. Like it or not, we're taking those books." The officer concluded, and then motioned his soldiers to proceed.

"I won't allow it!" The old man growled menacingly, and with great surprise of all people present there, he rushed toward Kanda.

The SS Commander didn't seem surprised at all and stood still with a grin on the face. In a moment, two of his Schutzstaffel were in front of him as a shield and expertly blocked the man's assault, reducing him to impotence.

"_Che_." Was Kanda's only comment as he turned to leave that place, followed by his soldiers with the books and the two of them who had protected him.

The old man followed out of the store, trying to wrestle the numerous volumes from the Reich men's hands.

"Arrest him." Kanda ordered in a cold tone, continuing to walk without even looking back to check on the events.

"What's happening?" They suddenly heard shouting, and Kanda turned abruptly seeing a young man running towards them, breathless.

The same two soldiers shielded again their Commander, wielding guns, and the red-haired boy stared at the German officer like he was a vision while he approached the small group of soldiers without slowing down.

The officer watched him. His long raven locks framed his perfect face, eyes cold and impassive that stared at him without betraying any emotion, thin lips just curved in a delighted grin, and the wind... the wind that blew the rest of his long tresses, tied just below the neck in a low ponytail. Those eyes... No, he couldn't be German, what did he do leading an SS platoon?

"_Che._"

His vision uttered a sound of contempt and turned angrily to the soldier behind him.

"What is he saying?" Kanda asked his orderly.

"Oh, he's asking what's happening, sir." The man answered promptly.

"Tell him we're taking away a subversive and to keep clear of it." The Japanese officer said, but the newcomer anticipated him.

"You're arrestin' my grandfather? Why?" The youth exclaimed with a worried look.

He stopped in front of Kanda, panting hard. So he was Japanese, Lavi thought. He should have grasped it immediately. He couldn't have been Italian for sure. It was rather obvious now why he was in command, but not as much for the reason he wore a German uniform instead of his own army's.

Kanda looked at him up and down.

"_So he's the grandson of this man. No wonder he can understand me too," _the Japanese soldier told to himself.

"He refused to hand over the books and attacked me. Those are both valid reasons for his arrest." Kanda promptly informed him, staring coldly at the redhead's astonished face.

"Lavi! Don't interfere, or you'll be taken too. They want to burn the books in Opernplatz (5)!" The old bookseller urged the teen in a language that no one else present understood but him.

"What did he say? Tell me now or it will be the worse for you," Kanda ordered, really close to lose his patience. At least, the few he had.

"That I must not interfere..." Lavi partially lied, confused by his mentor's words.

"Wise advice. Now, step aside." The Japanese officer ordered. Lavi complied looking at them departing, taking away his teacher and mentor.

The group loaded into the Reich military vans books and librarian and left full speed, but Lavi knew where they were going for the grand finale; he would have join them there.

He must speak to that man again, convince him that his grandfather didn't mean to do anything wrong... If they were going to jail him, he would never see him alive again. He was sure of that.

He took a shortcut, heading to the square in question, walking as fast as he could.

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Kanda watched the German students amass all sorts of publications on various piles in the center of the square, while his men did the same with what they had seized that day.

"_Che._" He let out an annoyed sound again, hoping that they would do it very quickly so to conclude once and for all that vapid task.

That was when he saw one of the students leave the closest group and walk towards him; it was the young man with red hair he had met just a few hours earlier.

"I'm not dangerous. I just want to talk." Lavi stated, raising hands in front of him in a surrendering gesture before the other youth could call his personal guard. He saw him raise an eyebrow in an annoyed manner.

"And, what about? Let's hear it." Kanda retorted in a menacing tone.

"My grandfather. He's not dangerous either. He's only a studious and a historian. That's why he cares so much for the books, and he didn't mean t'hurt you, really!" Lavi's expression was bordering on a begging one. "He just wanted to get you away from his precious books... We're not subversives or collaborators, and we're not even Jewish. Please, set him free!" The redhead exclaimed with emphasis, and gripped the sleeves of the Japanese man's uniform in the heat, fixing his one emerald green eye in the dark ones of the other.

Kanda was surprised to see such determination on Lavi's face and wondered how the redhead lost the other eye while thinking over on what to answer.

"You mustn't believe him, Herr (6) Kanda. He's lying," his attendant's voice interrupted those considerations, and Kanda turned to him with a questioning look. "He bears a Jewish name. He can't not be one. He's just a lousy liar and deserves to be punished as one!" Concluded the soldier.

"God no... That's not true!" Lavi was shocked. He hadn't considered that. He let go of his hold on Kanda and stepped back, feeling lost.

"That old man called you Lavi. It's a Jewish word," insisted the German soldier, accusingly.  
"What fool would have baptized you with a Jewish name other than one of them?"

"I admit it. Lavi has a meanin' in Hebrew language, but it's not my real name." The redhead said, trying to defend himself from the accusation. "Bookman, my grandfather, he's a historian, as I tried to explain b'fore, and he thought it would've been easier for me to gather information 'bout their way of livin' with a Jewish name..." Lavi noticed with horror that he was getting into more and more trouble with each word he said.

"Did you hear? They spied on the Jews. They can't be a part of them." Kanda's tone was almost amused; the naivety of that guy was disarming. The SS official was certain he wasn't lying. Anyone would have sought a better excuse.

"Herr Kanda?" The soldier thought he hadn't understood his commander's words correctly.

"If they spy on the Jews, that doesn't concern us. The fact they read their writings is questionable, but you do have to know your enemy to deal with it, don't you?" The inflection of the Japanese officer continued to be sarcastic, which to Lavi left only presage a disastrous conclusion. He sighed resignedly, expecting to be imprisoned with his mentor.

"What we're going to do with him then, Commander?" The orderly asked, confused.

"He's harmless." Kanda stated, leaving his subordinate astounded. "You can go." He said then, turning to Lavi.

"And, my grandfather? If they deport him... without him I'll be alone..." Lavi murmured, looking at the Japanese officer with a desperate expression.

"Your grandfather will be questioned tomorrow. You can come to the Headquarters if you want, but I advise you not to." Kanda turned his back to the redhead, his attention back to the movements in the square. "I will try to obtain his release, but I can't promise you anything. Now go away before I change my mind." He added sharply, but his voice betrayed a hint of interest, even if Lavi hadn't caught it.

The orderly stared at him, shocked. He had just heard his terrible, heartless Commander saying that he would care for someone? Impossible. Surely he said that to get rid of that nuisance. Yes, that's it. That had to be it.

Lavi nodded and smiled gratefully but didn't go away. He remained among the students to observe as one of the soldiers threw gasoline on the mounds of tomes scattered all around the square, and after that, he offered to Kanda a lighted torch.

Lavi hoped that Bookman wasn't looking at that as well, when he watched the Japanese officer throw the torch against the biggest pile with coldness and indifference, and then order his men to proceed with the rest.

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It was the evening of 10th May 1933, the day in which piles of books were set fire to destroy people's memories. The flames of the pyres in Berlin's center square lit up the sky floodlit, rising high in the warm air.

Kanda turned his back to the fire and headed to one of the jeeps eager to return to the SS Headquarters, under Lavi's sad observation.

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_**NOTES:**_

(1) Kanda refers to the invasion of China by Japan, in September 1931.

(2) Japan will fully enter the "Axis Alliance" in 1936, while the WWII will start in 1939. The main nations in this alliance were Germany, Italy and Japan.

(3) Schutzstaffel: full name for the SS.

(4) Sicherheitsdienst: SS Intelligence Division, the Reich's secret Police.

(5) Opernplatz: Berlin's main square.

(6) Herr: "Mister" in German.


	2. Chapter 2: Machinations

**DISCLAIMER: I don't own D. Gray-man, all belong to Hoshino sensei... If it was otherwise... Lavi and Kanda should have been together from like FOREVER! **

**WARNING: YAOI - if you don't know what this word means, or if you don't like boy/boy relationship this story is not for you, don't say I didn't tell you! You know the song, DON'T LIKE DON'T READ!**

* * *

_**WARNING N.2!**_ **Mention of racism and violence (this is mainly in later chapters)! Please note that I in no way am encouraging or approving of racism. It's just that to keep the story as possibly close to its historical period, I must use terms, ways of thinking, and behaviors proper of the factions involved in WWII. So, if references to Nazism or to its ideology is offensive to you, please refrain from reading. I don't want flames about it. I want to make it clear that I don't approve in any way Nazi's actions and that I'm not a racist, I'm just using the historical setting as a background. **

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Well, I know, a lot of time is passed from when I said I would update this within a few days... I'm so sorry about that^^;; Depending on a beta slows me a lot, and when I also have some other undertakings to manage with it's even worse... Anyway, here is the second chapter finally! And I started working on the 3rd, I hope to finish its translation soon!

Now, beta this time are two XD I was sure one was too busy to beta, and I asked to another girl^^"So in the end I could saw the point of view of two different person, which is always good to understand how is interpreted what I write XD

Beta were **SeyuuRabu **and **Jolee Finch**, thank you _**SO**_ much for your precious help, your patience, and your willingness to explain things to me! *BOWS*

As always, if you spot any errors it's my fault, for changing something the beta suggested XD

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**FROM TO DOOMSDAY DOOMSDAY**

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**Chapter 2: MACHINATIONS**

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After Kanda was gone Lavi stayed for hours contemplating the burning books. The crackle of flames fed by the wind gave him a feeling of helplessness as he watched the sparks falling, dancing on the ashes of that mountain of knowledge lost forever.

Mournfully he turned his back to the pyres, now almost entirely consumed, and walked back to his current 'home'.

The place was nothing but an hideout for dissidents, and, in his opinion, even a den of spies and seditionists. He was ninety percent sure that among the people living in the place there were at least five between British and Polish agents in disguise, plus several 'opponents of the Reich' of various nationalities taking part of unspecified plots.

The young man who had become a dear _friend_ of his was certainly one of them, but that mattered little to Lavi as he wasn't involved in their dangerous machinations.

And now he was involved.

Completely.

He suspected that they had convinced the old Bookman to pass on their side failing to keep the role of 'observer' he was supposed to be, and this was really serious. His mentor was famous for impartiality and his ability to stay above events: get involved in a war not yet 'active' when he was only there to observe it was a terrible warning sign. It meant that the elderly historian was concerned for the world's fate.

"Hey, Lavi." The cheerful voice of his supposed 'friend' greeted him when he slipped silently into the building. "Everything's all right?"

Lavi shook his head, staring at the white-haired boy in a very eloquent manner.

"What's goin' on Allen?" He asked accusingly. "Why are the SS movin'?"

"The SS started to move?" The English youth looked at him in amazement. "When? How?"

"For how long now I dunno, but a few hours ago they took my grandpa and lit bonfires of books in the main square." Lavi informed the boy while sitting on a chair beside him, looking really tired and disheartened.

Allen seemed very surprised to hear such a thing, almost frightened by it. He visibly shuddered, then he blinked at Lavi, completely taken aback.

"They've arrested Bookman?" He exclaimed, turning to the girl who was next to him. "What are we going to do now?" He said to her in a worried tone.

"I'm still positive about going to sing for the Nazi's 'court'." The Chinese girl confirmed confidently, placing her hand onto Allen's one in a reassuring gesture. "I'm sure I can gather lots of information on their plans simply by sitting a bit at their tables after each song."

Lavi couldn't believe what his ears were hearing: so what he had just said meant nothing to them?

"Is that all ya can think 'bout?" The redhead snapped bitterly. "They could deport or kill my grandpa tomorrow, and you're thinkin' 'bout singing!" He stood up abruptly, opening his arms wide in a gesture of desperate helplessness.

The two youths stared at Lavi in surprise, the always cheerful boy looked so desperate, so broken that they nearly didn't recognize him. _War is cruel_, they both thought, holding tight to each other's hands and exchanging a meaningful glance.

Then Allen turned again towards Lavi, opening his mouth to tell his friend how much he was sorry about what had just happened to him when something else caught their attention.

"Lenalee... Please, be careful." The voice of a man came between the other two, and from the nearby room appeared a tall, dark-haired male with oriental features.

"I promise, brother." The Chinese girl said, smiling as she was preparing herself to leave the place. "Lavi, I'm really sorry... but we must continue to fight for freedom. Soon the war will break out, we can't be unprepared."

Lavi shook his head in disbelief, glaring at them all, following the girl with an angry glance while she left the room. He wasn't as convinced as his supposed 'friends' seemed to be that the war would break out so soon.

_"Sure," _thought the redhead, "_but your doings are weighing on our shoulders."_

"Komui, how is it proceeding?" Allen asked the Chinese man, seeming to ignore the young Bookman's protests, much more interested in the mysterious researches that the guy named Komui was carrying out in absolute secret.

This was another thing that made the redhead suspect that the _activities _carried out in the 'hideout' were anything but legal, and was even more irritating to Lavi in his actual state of mind. He thought that the English boy was too young to even understand what he was doing, let alone understand the consequences to which such actions could lead.

"Nothing doing yet, we can't force the code." The man answered, shaking his head sadly. "But Reever is optimistic, we won't give up."

"Sure, continue plotting, you'll see what end awaits you." Lavi muttered in a sharp tone, turning his back to Allen resolute to leave the conspirators alone. "I'll manage it by myself with that Officer."

"What Officer?" Suddenly the English boy's attention was completely focused on him, and with a hand he blocked Lavi's wrist to stop him from moving further.

"Oh, now you care?" Bookman Junior rebuked, casting him a really upset look. Allen let go of him, and the redhead moved his arm away immediately.

"You can't trust German Officers Lavi, you'll end up like your grandfather." The English boy warned him putting on a grave look. He too stood up, a worried expression all over his baby face making the strange scar he had over his left eye more evident.

"I guess not, but he offered t'help me." Lavi spread his arms again, shook his head repetitively and sighed. "I don't have so many alternatives, I must try."

Allen sighed too, wondering how his friend could be so foolish to actually believe the word of an SS Officer.

"Who is this 'he', do you at least know his name?" He insisted, wondering on how this thing could be used to their advantage if confirmed.

"I heard the soldiers callin' him Kanda." Lavi mumbled while recalling in his photographic memory the image of the Japanese youth.

He saw the albino boy opening his eyes wide hearing Kanda's name, frightened, and he couldn't stop himself from feeling a cold chill running through his spine. Lavi had never seen Allen so upset before, so it left him with a really unpleasant sense of foreboding.

"Did you personally speak with _that_ Kanda?" Allen gasped in disbelief. That was bad, he thought alarmed, that was really bad! "The SS Special Unit's Commander? One of the most merciless and coldest men that are currently in their ranks? And has he offered to help you?"

"Well, yes... the name was Kanda." Lavi confirmed as much shocked as Allen by that revelation.

It was the first time he had seen the Japanese man, he didn't think Kanda could be that cruel and dangerous given his calm and composed countenance. No, he had to admit to it, it was because of Kanda's beautiful appearance...

"And you believed him?" The English boy was increasingly dismayed by the naivety of his friend.

"Why shouldn't I?" Lavi said in a defending tone. "He seemed sincere."

Well, maybe. He wasn't that sure anymore now that he had been told that the Japanese Officer was a heartless bastard.

"You're crazy Lavi, he only fooled you." Allen grabbed him by the shoulders, shaking him a bit in an attempt to bring him back to reality. "He surely wants to use you against Bookman," he stated as matter-of-fact, receiving back a questioning look.

_"You're not better than him," _thought the redhead freeing himself from the young albino's grip.

"Then tell me, since ya seem t'know so many things 'bout this Kanda, what should I do?" Lavi asked in a bitter tone, seeing no solution for his currently desperate situation.

At that request, even if muffled with sarcasm, Allen seemed to be thoughtful for an instant on what answer give to his friend, rubbing his chin with two fingers.

"Play along." He suggested, a strange light in his eyes that Lavi didn't like at all. "Did he ask you to go to him?" The albino boy was really curious to learn all the details.

It was a perilous but interesting situation, if Lavi had somewhat succeeded in getting on the right side of the dangerous Commander, then it could be worth to take the risk.

"No, quite the contrary. He warned me not to." Bookman Junior revealed, increasing Allen's concern with that statement. "He said that he would 'try to gain release' for my grandfather and told me to go home."

"The Nazis never do anything for nothing, it's strange." Pondered the English youth, rubbing his neck now with the same two fingers as before. "Maybe he's expecting you to give him something in return."

"Like what? Information 'bout you? It's not like I know that much, and ya would be gone b'fore I'd finished speakin'..." Lavi pointed out, casting a suspicious look at the other occupiers of the room, and the other youth seemed thoughtful again.

"Everyone says that he has no interest in women, Lenalee has never succeeded in approaching him. Maybe he appreciates something else..." Allen raised his arms in a questioning way.

"I'm not sure o'what you're suggestin' me to do..." The redhead murmured, shivering at those insinuations. He couldn't deny that Kanda was alluring, but...

"I'm not suggesting anything, it was only an hypothesis on why he's interested in you." Allen specified, shrugging meanwhile carefully pondering all of Lavi's reaction.

The English boy would have loved to get rid of someone like Kanda in so simple a way, if really Lavi was his type and the SS Officer actually wanted him.

"He wasn't at all interested in me. Actually he wanted t'get rid of the annoyance the way I saw it." Bookman Junior complained, pouting. "Oh, this whole situation is absurd!" He whined and turned his back to the albino boy, wanting to go to sleep and forget about the whole damn thing.

"It's up to you to decide." Allen sighed, patting his friend on the back. "As you pointed out, we'll move away quickly if they hold you back. Good luck Lavi, you need it." That said, he hugged the redhead, really hoping he won't put himself into bigger trouble, thereby involving them in it as well.

Allen then went back to confabulate with his accomplices, leaving the young Bookman alone with his thoughts.

Lavi only nodded, more to himself than to Allen in acknowledgment, still upset at his so-called friend. He left without adding a word further to the conversation, and headed to his room. He really needed to sleep, figuring out the beautiful day that awaited him in a few hours.

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Lavi found it difficult to fall asleep that night: he was thinking over the passed day's events and he was also worried about the upcoming visit to SS Headquarters planned for the day after.

He wondered how much truth there was in Allen's words, and how much hope he had to come out unscathed from this nasty situation together with his old man.

Also... If indeed the war was about to break out, if Hitler was really moving the first steps to prepare a world invasion, secretly organizing his war machine and following his unlimited ambition as Bookman seemed to fear, then all of them were doomed. Was this the war that his mentor so longed to observe? A catastrophic conflict that would surely come to involve the whole world? Lavi couldn't believe it.

Dawn found him still turning in bed, half awake, prey to baleful nightmares.

Sighing, the redhead quickly got dressed up. He then slipped quietly out of the hideout, and got on the first tram available.

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Kanda was about to leave his office, mentally reordering the happenings related to his latest duty. He had to issue the hated report concerning right that thankless task he had accomplished the previous day, and he wasn't at all pleased at the thought. He walked towards the door, when, as he opened it attempting to exit, someone else banged into him trying to enter the room.

The Japanese Officer, to his great surprise, recognized in the nuisance, who had just collided into him, the young redhead who'd contributed by 'animating' the 'book burning' affair the previous day.

The one whose grandfather he had arrested.

Yeah that. He had forgotten.

"Is knocking no longer in use?" Kanda rebuked the youth abruptly, backing up one step and leaning on the door, his hand still gripping the handle to avoid ending up on the floor because of the push he had received.

"Oh, yeah, sure... I was afraid t'be seen..." Lavi apologized, scratching his head awkwardly.

At that statement Kanda looked at him more closely, and his eyes widened in astonishment: he was wearing the Reich's uniform!

"Where did you get that!" The Officer immediately exclaimed, half stunned, half furious, in a tone that was anything but friendly which made his poor victim quake. "How did you..."

"Well, I didn't want to, y'know... but he said that it would make it easier talkin' to you." Lavi excused himself, smiling in the hope of being forgiven.

Kanda took a deep breath in an attempt to calm himself as well as to avoid killing the fool in front of him right there and then.

"_HE_? Who is this _'he'_?" The Japanese Officer asked incredulously.

Kanda already had an idea of the only idiot who could have done such a thing, but he wanted a confirmation from the mouth of this other idiot.

"Oh, look, I dunno the name, he's a guy with his face half covered 'till the nose." Bookman Junior gestured to help the description. "He was so kind t'help me, he had t'feel sorry for me."

The Japanese man shook his head in annoyance: Toma, as he suspected. If that harpy, Howard Link, the other SS Commander assigned under General Tiedoll with him, had noticed this thing they all would have had a lot of problems. The guy was a real bitch about all the rules and the fucking duties of an SS Officer.

_Dammit._

He made a mental note to kill his current orderly later. Because idiots recognized each other, and he knew he was surrounded by idiots, and... _Oh, shit!_

"Come in and explain what's happening." Kanda ordered the redhead, stepping aside and closing the door after the youth entered.

"There, it's for my old man. I'm very worried and I wanted t'know if there's any news." Lavi said casting a hopeful look at the SS Commander and moving a step forward.

Kanda sighed, he had to have known that the idiot wouldn't give up. He silently walked to his desk to rummage through a pile of paperwork. He picked up one of the sheets and took a good look at it before speaking again.

"He's under custody, waiting to be questioned." The SS Commander finally said, and Lavi slumped his shoulders, downcast, his head hung low.

"There's nothin' ya can do?" He asked then, a vein of despair in his voice; the other shook his head.

"Just wait." Kanda concluded flatly.

"If... if it's because I have nothin' to offer in return, I... Well... you can have me." Lavi murmured while approaching the desk without taking his eye off from the Japanese Officer's dark ones.

Kanda was astounded, and the fact that the other had just addressed him in such an informal way was overshadowed.

"You what?" He exclaimed, incredulous.

"I've just my body to offer you, so..." Lavi tried to say, but Kanda cut him off immediately.

"It was Toma who suggested to you such a clever thing, right?" Noting Lavi's puzzled look the Japanese Officer explained himself better. "The idiot who gave you the uniform."

"Uh, no. I was told that you have no interest in women, so I thought..." Lavi truly wanted to apologize, but the other didn't let him finish his sentence.

"No." Kanda clenched his jaw. Again those fucking rumors, if only he could catch who had been spreading them around! "If I consider a waste of time running after women it doesn't mean that– Oh, fuck!" Kanda smacked his palm against his face.

Why the hell was he justifying himself to this idiot then! It was absolutely incredible!

_"I MUST GET RID OF HIM," _screamed his mind from sensing his already compromised self-control threatening to abandon him.

Suddenly he had a brilliant idea: he would pass the hot potato to General Tiedoll. That way he'd get rid of two problems all in one go, the report and the idiot. But first of all...

"Tell me who it was." Kanda ordered in a menacing tone, but he got back again a puzzled look. "Who told you that!" He growled, and Lavi jumped at the new change in Kanda's tone.

"Ah, well... A student who was with me at the square yesterday." Bookman Junior lied, hoping to be believed. "I don't know him, I was just telling him what happened to me and..." Kanda grabbed the redhead by the arm, dragging him along.

"Come on, I'll take you to someone who may help you." The Japanese Officer snapped in an angry tone while forcing the poor shocked redhead to follow him.

Even the students now! If he discovered the source of those rumors, many heads would roll, Kanda swore to himself.

.  
.

"I'm sorry!" Lavi continued to complain.

"Shut up and walk!" The Japanese man continued to repeat to him.

_"Dammit, if he says it once again, I'll_ _shoot_ _him here in the hallway!" _Kanda thought exasperatedly, his fingers twitching in irritation as he walked angrily down the corridor, dragging the whining redhead along with him.

Arriving in front of General Tiedoll's office, Kanda let go of his victim's sleeve and prepared himself to knock on the door, when said victim spoke again.

"Seriously Kanda, I'm sorry!" The pleading tone that the redhead was persisting with irritated Kanda beyond his endurance limit.

"Shut your fucking mouth!" The Japanese Officer thundered. "And don't be so familiar with me! You must address me as Herr Kanda, and I won't repeat it a second time!"

"Oh, yes, sure, _I'm sorry_..." Lavi said again, looking disconsolate.

Kanda rolled his eyes and was about to strangle Lavi when the door in front of them opened.

.  
.

Inside the office Tiedoll was listening to another Officer's report when both men heard a rather excited quarrel just beyond the door.

The General smiled, recognizing Kanda's voice and imagining that the other should be his orderly, since he was answering in Japanese.

His interlocutor turned his head to the door baffled, unable to understand a single word of the speech. He imagined it must be from Commander Kanda, since he was the only Officer almost completely unable to speak German.

With a wink the blond Officer asked General Tiedoll's permission to open the door, and the man gave his consent with a nod.

.  
.

Kanda turned abruptly to the noise behind him, and found himself staring at Howard Link's puzzled face.

"What's happening?" The man asked calmly, eyeing Kanda carefully.

"Nothing," was Kanda's cold reply. "In any case, it's none of your business."

The eyes of the two Officers met, and each of the two men held the other's glare with a defiant look, both too proud to concede something to their opponent.

Lavi shifted uneasily, predicting that he would become the next target of the blond haired man.

"Who is this new recruit, I've never seen him before." Commander Howard Link asked, realizing only then that Kanda's young comrade wasn't the usual orderly.

The Japanese officer's eyes went slightly wide, and a subtle panic seized him. What now? How would he justify Lavi's presence?

"Oh, Yuu-kun, come in!" Tiedoll's voice came from inside the room, and this time Kanda welcomed it like the light of a lighthouse on a starless night.

"_Che_." Kanda frowned at the sound of his first name, but he was grateful that the General's invitation to enter allowed him to avoid answering that question, and went in without saying a word. Lavi and an unsatisfied Howard Link immediately followed him in.

* * *

_**NOTES:**_

- Schutzstaffel: full name for the SS.

- Sicherheitsdienst: SS Intelligence Division, the Reich's secret Police.

- Herr: "Mister" in German.


	3. Chapter 3: Decisions

**DISCLAIMER: I don't own D .Gray-man, UNFORTUNATELY all is into the hands of that crazy woman whose name is hoshino... If it was otherwise... Lavi and Kanda should have been together from a VERY LONG TIME! And, more than a certain someone would be dead by now, before spitting out nonsenses.**

**WARNING: YAOI - if you don't know what this word means, or if you don't like boy/boy relationship this story is not for you, don't say I didn't tell you! You know the song, DON'T LIKE DON'T READ!**

* * *

**_WARNING N.2!_ Mention of racism and violence (this is mainly in later chapters)! Please note that I in no way am encouraging or approving of racism. It's just that to keep the story as possibly close to its historical period, I must use terms, ways of thinking, and behaviors proper of the factions involved in WWII. So, if references to Nazism or to its ideology is offensive to you, please refrain from reading. I don't want flames about it. I want to make it clear that I don't approve in any way Nazi's actions and that I'm not a racist, I'm just using the historical setting as a background.**

**

* * *

**

Okay, as promised here's a second update for another story that was stuck from a really long time^^"" Now however I'll be busy until the beginning of February, so the next update will be a bit late than I hoped for; but no doubt it will be done.

As always, a big THANKS to EM1&EM2, aka Saxon-Jesus who did the beta work for me, being so patient and helpful!

I love you!

.

And... If you spot any error is my fault for changing something the beta suggested XD ...Or for not noticing the correction... (yeah, a couple of times it happened u_u)

.

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**FROM TO DOOMSDAY DOOMSDAY**

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**Chapter 3 – Decisions**

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**

.

General Tiedoll sat behind a heavy desk, surrounded by piles of paperwork, a long time empty cup of coffee lying forgotten in a corner between one stack and the other; with wide gestures of both arms the man invited them to enter, a jovial expression on his face.

"I see you brought me the new recruit as I asked, good, good." The man said, smiling while evaluating the newcomer.

Kanda raised an eyebrow, but didn't contradict his superior.

"Sir, the soldier Michael der Finder informed me about a young man matching his description," Commander Link intervened pointing at Lavi "which had hampered Herr Kanda yesterday during the subversive books' confiscation. I think it should be checked..."

"Oh, everything is fine Herr Link, the boy is in good standing." General Tiedoll granted under Kanda's astonished gaze. "Now if you'll excuse us, we have things to discuss regarding this boy's assignment."

"Ah, of course... By your leave, Herr General." The man bowed, then left the room.

His gaze following Link going out, the Japanese officer took a mental note he should have to skin that Michael alive for sneaking... Damn nagging rookie!

"Why?" Kanda asked immediately.

"Well, we don't want this poor boy coming to a bad end, right?" Tiedoll motioned to the both of them to sit, but only Lavi did.

"You didn't answer, Sir. Why did you lie?" Kanda insisted.

"Yuu-kun, Herr Link is a treacherous person." The man paused, staring Kanda in the eyes with a serious look on his face. "And I'm sure that if you brought me this youth here you have a good reason."  
The Japanese man sighed, moving a step toward his senior officer's desk, stopping alongside Lavi.

"Herr Link told the truth. He's the grandson of the bookseller we arrested yesterday." He revealed to the General without beating around the bush.

"Oh, really?" Tiedoll suddenly became very interested to the whole story, and Kanda silently cursed himself for having dragged Lavi to him. It would come to a bad end, he felt it.

"Yes." He confirmed trying not to look annoyed by General Tiedoll's curiosity. "It seems that they're two historians, who mingled with the Jews living in the ghetto to study their way of life." Kanda ignored Lavi's pleading expression, continuing his report of the facts. "The old man is a fanatic for books and objected to their confiscation, so I had to get him arrested."

"And now you feel guilty," the General concluded, nodding good-naturedly.

"No!" Kanda immediately snapped, going on the defensive. "I only did my duty." He stated precisely tightening his fists, pointing immediately after his finger at Lavi with an angry gesture. "Then he appeared and told us this imaginative story."

"Is that all?" Tiedoll asked and the officer nodded. The General smiled to the young redhead, completely shifting his attention on him. "And you? What's your name, my boy?"

"L-Lavi." Bookman junior said, uncertain whether to use that name anymore given the bad turn the situation was taking. "Lavi Bookman."

"Oh. A Jewish name." Tiedoll commented thoughtfully.

"N-no, I'm a not a Jew, what a damn mess!" Lavi lamented holding his head in his hands.

"_Che_. Be a man and tell the General what you have told to me." Kanda hissed contemptuously. "This idiot wants us to free his old man."

"Yuu-kun, don't be rude and let him speak." Tiedoll exhorted him, then turned to the young redhead acting in a fatherly way. "Come on, Lavi, would you tell me why are you here? You're not a true soldier, right?"

"Look, some students I know suggested me..." Lavi noticed Kanda piercing him with a withering glare, and modified what was about to escape from his mouth. "...to appeal for leniency to the SS Commander who took my grandfather, so I came here."

"Alone? You really have got a nerve, my boy." Tiedoll smiled in amusement. "What about the Uniform?"

"Well... A soldier saw me kind of lost, and asked what I was lookin' for, and when I told him, he _- err -_ said somethin' like 'you'll never manage to get close to Herr Kanda arranged like this' and guided me to a place full of uniforms, sayin' I should wear one..." Lavi confessed sheepishly, suddenly feeling so damn stupid.

Tiedoll burst into laughter, much to Kanda's chagrin and under Lavi's astonished gaze.

"Toma, it was Toma for sure, don't you think Yuu-kun?" The General guessed between tears, trying to put a stop to his hearty laugh.

"The idiot number two, yes." Confirmed the young officer in a sharp tone, crossing arms to his chest.

"Lavi, do you have documents with you?" Tiedoll asked, now serious again, considering how to best resolve the matter helping the youth, who nodded, handing him a card. "Ah, you're Italian. This helps a lot." Commented the high rank officer.

"I'm... Italian?" Lavi muttered, wondering what the hell the old man was up to with their documents.

"Listen my boy, there's no way to get your grandfather free if it's not proved without a shadow of a doubt that he's a loyal subject of the Reich," Tiedoll explained in a fatherly tone; Bookman Junior sighed, down-hearted, and the elder man continued. "But if you enlist you'll prove to be loyal to the Nation, and within one month your grandfather would be exculpated."

Kanda's eyes widened: that idiot? Enrolled?

Lavi was also speechless, but he completely understood the situation; he was already wearing the SS uniform by now, it wasn't that much of a difference what he became, if doing it kept him alive.

"I accept." He said simply.

"But General, this makes no sense!" Kanda protested vigorously, already seeing himself forced to wet-nurse the redhead. "We don't even know who he really is!"

"Come on Yuu-kun, this young man is fluent in Japanese, he's perfect to become your personal attendant." Tiedoll stated looking at his subordinate with hopeful eyes.

"W-what?" Kanda couldn't believe his ears. That idiot? Pestering him every fucking day of his life?

"He's also Italian, an ally. His enlistment won't be rejected." The General waved his hand with an indulgent air. "You also speak German, boy, don't you?" At that, Lavi nodded with a hesitant smile. "Excellent! Then it's decided." The man smiled back with an overjoyed expression.

Kanda shook his head sadly while the young Bookman was wondering if his troubles were really over or they were just about to begin.

"So I'll be at his service?" He asked fearing the answer.

"Of course. You'll be his attendant and interpreter, and maybe you'll be able to shove in that thick head of his a little German!" The General nodded repeatedly, and his pupil gave him a scorching glare.

Kanda growled a curse, followed by a second one, a third one... Lavi, noting the deep disappointment of his future superior, couldn't help but feel stuck in a situation bigger than him, which could only portend unpleasant developments.

"Can I leave?" The Japanese man finally asked, trying his best to mask the angry tone in his voice.

"I'd say yes," consented Tiedoll, rubbing his chin with a pensive gesture, as if trying to mentally summarize all the things he had to discuss with Kanda to make sure he didn't miss anything "but he's coming with you," he added giving Lavi another one of his bright smiles, then moving back again his gaze on Kanda. "Starting from today, he's under your responsibility. Take care of all the necessary formalities, Yuu-kun."

"_Che_." Grinding his teeth, Kanda grabbed Lavi by the arm and dragged him out of the room almost by weight, ignoring the redhead's plaintive protests.

Tiedoll watched them leave still smiling, pleased with his work.

.

.  
"Where are ya takin' me?" Lavi asked in a pleading tone.

"Shut up and walk." Kanda hissed visibly furious, pulling his new ball and chain along the corridor, heading to the recruitment office.

_"Me and my bright ideas,"_ the officer complained to himself.

"But Yuu..." The young redhead didn't have the time to finish his sentence as he found himself slammed against the nearest wall, one arm painfully folded behind his back. "AWW! Why?" He wailed pitifully, confused.

"Don't you ever dare call me by my first name again." Kanda roared against the poor boy, thus responding to the question, his enraged face a few millimeters from the other's youth one to be sure that he plucked the lethal light in his eyes. "_Never again_, understood?"

"But the General..." Lavi protested weakly, only getting the grip on his arm to tighten up.

"I can't prevent the General from doing it, to you I can." Kanda said in a deadly tone, adding the other hand in action to clench Lavi's throat, and the poor redhead had no doubt that the Japanese officer would carry out those threats.

However Lavi couldn't help it, he had to find out why it bothered Kanda that much to be called by his given name.

"You've a beautiful name, it's a pity notta use it." Lavi gasped, turning his head - as much he could in that grip of steel - to look at his torturer, and gave him a mischievous smile.

Result? Another turn.

A little more and the SS officer would have broken his arm, yet the foolish young man continued to look at him with that air of defiance. An interesting change, Kanda observed smugly.

"None of your business. Mind to stay in your place and you won't have trouble. Otherwise..." He whispered in Lavi's ear in a more and more threatening tone.

"Herr Kanda!"A voice called from down the hall, more than a little worried. "What's going on?"

Toma. _Dammit_.

"Everything is fine," the Japanese man said coldly, slowly letting go of his future personal attendant. "We were just making something clear."

"Oh, Lavi... I see you've already become friends." Toma said in German, recognizing the young man and exchanging with him a knowing smile.

"Yeah. We're close friends." Bookman Junior agreed in the same language and with tone as much as ironic, rubbing his injured arm.

"If you two continue to speak German so I don't understand, I'll have your asses whipped." Kanda candidly informed them.

"Yes, Sir!" Toma sprang to attention, apologizing in his rough Japanese. "I won't do it again, Sir!"

Lavi stared aghast, wondering at this point what exactly was awaiting him.

.

It was after midnight when Lavi finally returned to his quarters, if he could define the place so.

He tried to make as little noise as possible, but once inside he realized that it was absolutely useless; everyone was intent on fulfilling the most disparate tasks and hadn't even noticed his arrival.

"Hey." The young Bookman greeted, warning in such a way that he was back.

Many moved their heads, looking at him to return the greeting and ask how things had gone, but stopped dead frozen by the sight they found in front of their eyes.

"A-Allen..." A little man with thick glasses grabbed of the English boy's sleeve, who, sensing the note of panic in his companion's voice, quickly turned toward him.

"What's the matter, Johnny?" Asked the albino noting the terrified expression on his friend's face and the latter pointed in Lavi's direction.

Allen's jaw fell when his eyes settled on the redhead.

"Lavi! What the hell happened!" He exclaimed, gesturing towards the other youth, interrupting whatever he was doing just a moment before and approaching him.

Lavi noticed the silence that had suddenly fallen into the room, realizing that everyone was staring at him and consequently looked upon himself. _Oh, God, the uniform!_

He laughed nervously scratching his head, while thinking of how to justify what happened and reassure them all.

"Well, it's not whattya think..."

"You wear an SS uniform Lavi, don't tell me it's a joke or that you've stolen it!" Allen urged him accusingly.

"No..." The redhead weakly replied.

"Do they know you're here?" Allen asked, but before Lavi could argue, he continued. "Forget it; they surely have put someone to follow you."

"No, it's impossible, only Yuu knows that I live here in the ghetto, and he doesn't..." Lavi tried to object, but the English boy interrupted him, more and more alarmed.

"Who's this guy?" he asked out of the blue; seeing Lavi looking down guiltily, Allen just put two and two together. "Kanda? Is it him? He allows you to use his _name_?" The young man was shocked by this discovery.

"Err, yes and no..." Lavi confessed, still looking down and playing nervously with one hem of his uniform; his interrogator appeared confused. "Yes, that's Kanda's name and no, he doesn't allow me to use it, but sometimes I let it slip..."

"Lavi what it means? You talk about Kanda as if you were friends..." The albino boy grabbed the redhead by the shoulders, shaking him vigorously. "That man is a monster; you'd better stay away from him! And instead? Would you explain it?"

"To me it doesn't seem that Kanda is as terrible as ya say..." Lavi objected, immediately on the defensive. _"Of course, if one ignores his tendency to become violent,"_ he mentally added.

"Lavi! He's fooling you, he's just using you!" Allen warned his friend again, hoping this time to get him to see sense, and the young redhead slowly raised his head to look at the other boy.

"I'm not sure." He replied; hearing those words Allen shook his head resignedly, but Lavi continued. "What's certain however is that I had no other choice for gettin' my grandfather free."

"I don't understand." The young albino was afraid to hear what the other would answer, but posed the question all the same. "Where are you getting at?"

"I had to prove my loyalty to the regime. I enlisted, Allen." Lavi confessed. The English boy stared open-mouthed, it was worse than he thought. Much worse. Monumentally worse. Like, the end of the world worse. "Don't give me that look; ya also know it works this way. Now the charges will fall."

"Don't count on it." Allen shook his head again, looking like you do with a poor mug.

"I'm Kanda's personal attendant; they've no reason t'doubt me now. I'll succeed in havin' my old man free."

"Kanda had wanted..." Allen murmured in disbelief.

"No, it was General Tiedoll who assigned me to him. In fact Yuu has no likin' for me at all..." Lavi shrugged his shoulders. "I couldn't avoid it, it's my only hope."

"You'll end up in trouble, Lavi." Allen exchanged eloquent glances with all the others present. "Tomorrow we'll no longer be here. I hope for you that what you did will be of some help."

The next evening, when he returned there, Lavi found the apartment empty.

.

.  
Kanda realized at once that something was wrong in his new ball and chain, because... said nuisance that morning wasn't annoying. For the record, the redhead hadn't uttered a word since he came into his office with some documents for him to view.

The officer was very surprised to receive them in Japanese, and wondered how Lavi had managed to transcribe them in such short a time. Now the young man was standing behind him, motionless, waiting for him to finish reading, and Kanda found it extremely irritating.

"_Che_." He spat out, exacerbated by the length of silence. "Well?"

"W-What?" Was Lavi's stuttered answer; the youth was startled, taken aback by the question.

"You are absent-minded. Distracted." The Japanese man met his orderly's gaze, and read uncertainty in it. "Private life is your business only, but if it affects your efficiency then it becomes mine as well." Lavi looked away, biting his lower lip, but didn't answer. "If you don't want to tell me what the problem is because you fear to be punished, I promise I won't do it." Kanda sighed, stopped paying attention to the documents and drew back his chair, like he was considering standing up, fixing his gaze on Lavi.

"I no longer have a place t'stay." Simply said the young redhead. "Or rather, I've remained alone and I guess I'll have t'leave from the place I lived in. Can't afford it anymore."

"I understand." Kanda raised an eyebrow. "Your student friends escaped just after seeing your uniform." Lavi nodded, his expression showing off sadness. "Then you can do without them, they weren't your friends at all."

The officer's comment surprised the young Bookman a lot; he didn't believe Kanda had consideration for other people's feelings, friendship included.

"I think a training session will be beneficial to you. Follow me." Without waiting for an answer Kanda stood up, gaining the door. "We'll settle the housing matter later," he added while they were leaving.

.

.

Lavi had never toiled that much in his entire life. He didn't expect that the Japanese officer intended to teach him the basics of hand to hand combat, but he had to admit Kanda was right: now he felt much better.

Moreover, it seemed that Kanda had appreciated his commitment, judging by the satisfied grin that was – but just a tiny bit – curving his lips.

Also pleased was their audience, all the recruits had stopped practice to watch them, and Lavi imagined they would have had material on which talking behind their back for months. They didn't often see - that is to say _never_ - their commander personally train a rookie.

Outside the showers, Kanda casually brought up the argument 'accommodation' while they were drying themselves.

"As soon as you're ready we're going to pick up your things." Established the officer without even deigning to ask his attendant's opinion about it. "You will stay in the dormitory with the other recruits.

"Ah... Well..." Lavi looked at Kanda embarrassed, not knowing how to refuse the offer.

"What is it?" The Japanese man snorted, visibly irritated.

"I've... many books." Bookman junior saw that his superior in rank seemed almost amused by this confession.

"Of course, rare and precious. We'll keep them in my office for now, with everything you have of some value." Kanda imagined that there were many 'forbidden' titles among those books, but he didn't care at all.

"Thank you." Lavi smiled, happy he could keep his mentor's things safe until the return of the latter.

"Don't thank me. I'm only doing this because you're useful to me." Kanda pointed out flatly, shrugging.

But Lavi was convinced by now that the young Japanese wasn't so ruthless as he wanted everyone to believe, so he didn't stop smiling at him.

Kanda snorted, annoyed by his orderly's attitude always so informal, gesturing the idiot to follow him as soon as he was ready.

.

.  
Allen saw a SS car stopping in front of their ex-refuge, and though he expected something like that, he was shocked to see Kanda getting off it, obediently followed by Lavi, while the driver stayed inside the vehicle with the engine running. He watched as they entered, and waited patiently to see what happened.

After less than half an hour Kanda and Lavi came out, and the latter was carrying a suitcase. Then the driver got out and loaded three boxes in the trunk, that the English boy was sure should contain the old Bookman's books.

So Lavi had passed completely to the enemy. _Kanda had fooled him without difficulty, __making him his puppet_, thought the albino boy as he motioned to one companion at his side to warn Johnny.

The man, whose name was Tup, nodded and ran off, as much as his size would allow him to. Lavi looked really on familiar terms with that Kanda, from the way he was smiling and talking to him and the Japanese man let him do it; which was incredible considering that the SS officer was famous for trusting no one and for not bonding with anyone.

Allen sighed. Perhaps Lavi was better than what he believed he was to make himself liked by people, and it could be very helpful for them. With a satisfied grin the English boy left his guard station, right after the military truck left.


	4. Chapter 4: Double Cross

**DISCLAIMER: I don't own D. Gray-man, UNFORTUNATELY all is into the hands of that crazy woman whose name is hoshino... Because if it was otherwise... D. Gray-man manga wouldn't have become a shapeless and disgusting jumble of nonsenses, and Lavi would have been together with Kanda from a VERY LONG TIME!**

**WARNING: YAOI - if you don't know what this word means, or if you don't like boy/boy relationship this story is not for you, don't say I didn't tell you! You know the song, DON'T LIKE DON'T READ!**

* * *

**_WARNING N.2!_ Mention of racism and violence (this is mainly in later chapters)! Please note that I in no way am encouraging or approving of racism. It's just that to keep the story as possibly close to its historical period, I must use terms, ways of thinking, and behaviors proper of the factions involved in WWII. So, if references to Nazism or to its ideology is offensive to you, please refrain from reading. I don't want flames about it. I want to make it clear that I don't approve in any way Nazi's actions and that I'm not a racist, I'm just using the historical setting as a background.**

* * *

.

Yeah, finally it's done. Once again, sorry for the long wait.

I want to thank all of you who patiently waited for my updates, even if between translating and having the chapter betaed always pass around a month^^" (when I don't have other business to take care of)

Also, this time I will answers to the reviewers here, I'm sorry I didn't do it immediately by mail.

**my perspective: **Glad you like this story so much! I believe this is one of the most ambitious plots I ever worked on, to tell you the truth. Because it develops through a range of over 10 years, covering all the war, before, during and afterwards.

I'm also happy that you think the characters fit their role, since among Italian readers many complained about Lavi not being enough cheerful... Well, I think that this situation is not so good to justify an exaggerated amount of Lavi-idiocy; he most likely is feeling as he was on board of Anita's ship.

**Emeraldonyxdragon**: Thank you for your support ^_^ I really appreciate it. You all welcomed this story so thrilled, and I love it. Maybe it is because so many of you had their countries on the 'Ally' side, so most of the events in this story are quite unknown to you/didn't affect you, and you feel more inclined to express your point of view.

The Italian readers feel ashamed of what happened since we were part of the Axis alliance, and they're afraid to say that they actually appreciate something told from the Nazi's side point of view, two SS soldiers no less! So they rarely tell me what they think. But I see they all read.

**Karina001**: Thanks^^ Yeah, in such a political survey, people couldn't afford trust. Lavi is trapped into the system and actually is divided by what his eyes are seeing and what his heart would like to see. He can see the man under Kanda's uniform, but at the same time he is unable to separate the two and most important he's not sure who to believe, so he just stick at what Kanda represents to him.

But I have this strange feeling that I clamorously misunderstood what you was meaning XD

Okay, I've babbled enough XD Well, enjoy the new chapter!

.

As always, a big THANKS to EM1&EM2, aka Saxon-Jesus who did the beta work for me, being so patient and helpful!

I love you!

.

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**Chapter 4: Double-Cross**

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The next morning, Lavi completely reorganized Kanda's office, as the officer was finishing analyzing the documents he had left pending from the previous day.

Or at least, he was desperately trying to study them; havingsuch a hyperactive person - as Lavi was - around, Kanda soon realized that it was impossible to concentrate on anything for more than five consecutive minutes, before the redhead would call him to ask his opinion or would simply start talking about himself and his job before he knew him.

"Do I have t'leave them in the boxes?" The young man suddenly started, pointing at three large packages stacked in the farthest corner from the door, which contained the things collected in his former apartment. He had just finished placing all the books (which were actually very few) present in the room, creating an entire free space on the shelf he was cleaning.

"Choose whatever you want to fill the fucking hole, but do it in silence." Kanda exhaled loudly, shootinghis orderly an irritated look, as he rested his elbow on the desk's edge and placed his forehead on his opened hand's palm, trying to go back focusing on his job.

Lavi hastened to obey, yet smiling at his young superior with a hopeful glint in his eye.

"Yuu, can I also move these?" He then asked, showing Kanda a pile of files, stacked above and beside the numerous manuals of military regulations, the winning smile of which he was so generous about plastered again on his face.

"Is it possible that you can't keep your mouth shut for at least two consecutive minutes?" Kanda snapped with an angry gesture, sweeping the papers from his desk and sending them to spread on the floor under Lavi's mortified glance.

"But, Yuu..." The youth tried to justify himself, only to obtain that Kanda stood angrily from his chair and violently slammed both his fists down on the desk, making him wince at the brutality of such a reaction.

"I've already shown you what could happen if you continue on using my first name, am I wrong?" Kanda hissed in a deadly tone, piercing his orderly with a glare. Lavi swallowed hard, nodding repeatedly.

"O-OK... Got it..." He stammered, frozen, nervously rubbing his unruly hair. Yuu could really be scary at times.

The redhead stood stock-still staring at him as the young officer went back to seat like nothing had happened, as cold and unfriendly as a few moments before.

"Pick up those documents." Kanda then ordered to his subordinate with carelessness.

Lavi silently obeyed, handing them back and resuming to take care of the office's reorganization without speaking a word more, this time devoting himself to the Japanese officer's file cabinet.

The day after a new shelf appeared in Kanda's office, complete with doors and lock, and big enough to hold all the volumes once belonging to the old Bookman, now the only possessions Lavi had left from his grandfather and mentor.

The youth approached the furniture with reverence, touching it as if he didn't believe his one eye, almost expecting it wasn't real; he then suddenly turned at Kanda, spreading his arms.

"Thanks, Yuu!" The redhead said trying to hug him, and getting a hook in his stomach as a response.

Lavi clung to his Japanese superior laughing heartily, almost as if the fist he just took hadn't reached him at all.

"_TCH_! You're a hopeless case," Kanda stated, trying to wriggle free. "Let go of me, now, or I'll hurt you _a lot_, it's a promise!"

Lavi pulled away from him slowly, leaning on his shoulders for a moment, as he staggered a step backwards, his right arm pressed against his offended stomach. But the winning smile was still there, Kanda noticed with incredulous astonishment. This youth was a lost cause, teaching him a modicum of discipline seemed to be a truly impossible task.

These movements continued for the whole week, arousing everybody's curiosity. Each one of the recruits was anxious to meet their Japanese Commander's new orderly, sure that he wouldn't last more than two days, and being extremely disappointed to discover in spite of himself that he was wrong when the Commander's previous orderly, a recruit everyone knew just as Michael, went to collect the bets' money...

Although he didn't stop a moment to speak, Kanda found that the young redhead had the required qualities to succeed in his job, even though totally lacking in discipline: methodical, precise, fast, educated. Intelligent, too, although he behaved like an idiot all the time, something to which the Japanese officer had resigned himself by now, as Lavi went along also with the sergeant who sometimes had acted as his interpreter, Toma Sucher.

_"Perfect couple of idiots,"_ He thought, shaking his head.

"Yuu, where do I put this?" Came at that moment from the one present of said two idiots.

Kanda lifted his face and simultaneously an eyebrow, shooting his orderly a murderous glare, but the other instead of shaking in fear gave him one of those disarming smiles of his.

Another thing he had to surrender to: Lavi would have never stopped calling him by his first name.

At that very moment Toma came in bearing the news that the Gestapo Police had seized several tons of books about Marxism, which were also destined to be burned.

It was May 22, 1933.

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Lavi had perfectly adapted to his new lifestyle, and after the first traumatic impact with the recruits' dormitory to which he had been assigned, living promiscuously with all those people now no longer seemed to be so terrible for him; on the contrary, he also made some friends among those soldiers.

He was often spending his free time with two of them in particular, a German man always wearing a shy look whom he played chess with, and a rather naive young Romanian whom he won half the pay almost every time they played poker together, and then promptly gave him back a good part of it out of pity by the youth's whining.

Lavi found himself particularly at ease with the latter, perhaps because the man didn't care at all who he was or under whose orders he was serving, so he didn't ever ask questions about Kanda or any of the tasks his Commander entrusted to him.

In addition, he found the young Romanian was a very nice person despite his odd appearance, reminding him of the classic Transylvanian vampire, reason why Lavi at some point saddled him with the nickname 'Herr Vampir'.

However he couldn't help but wonder until when immigrants from countries adjacent to Germany would be well-accepted within the system, if as everyone seemed to believe Nazism was tending to absolute intolerance toward all non-German people.

Unfortunately things didn't go entirely as Lavi hoped, and since the day on which he had enlisted, he hadn't succeeded in obtaining a single piece of news on his adoptive grandfather; the old Bookman appeared to have vanished, swallowed by the Reich's bureaucracy, according to General Tiedoll.

But Yuu had been very direct with him, revealing without beating around the bush that the difficulty on tracing his grandfather was - no doubt about it - due to the hostility between him and another SS Commander, Howard Link, who, in Kanda's opinion, did his very best so every trace of the elderly historian would be lost; and he really had done a great job.

Even General Tiedoll wasn't able to have someone tell him where Bookman had been detained. It really looked like this Commander Link had powerful friends among the upper spheres.

"Yuu?" Lavi's voice roused Kanda, breaking his concentration, and the young man raised his head from the documents he was examining, his expression annoyed and an eyebrow raised as always on hearing his first name pronounced.

"What is it now?" He replied in an irritated tone, turning to his orderly a grim look, expecting once again some absurd request or that the redhead started to tell him things he didn't want to hear.

"Do you think my grandfather is dead?" Lavi asked instead in a sad tone, leaving Kanda bewildered, and above all without any response to give him.

"It's possible." The officer admitted calmly, as if he was speaking of the weather. Lavi's face showed no reaction, but the corners of his mouth curved into a bitter grimace.

"O'course..." The youth nodded and turned around, going back to rummage among the books on the shelf, pretending he was looking for something. Kanda sighed, standing up, thereby attracting the young Bookman's attention again toward himself.

"Believe me, I'm doing everything in my power to track him down, but your grandfather seems to have disappeared without a trace." Kanda paused, meeting Lavi's sad gaze; he then raised a balled fist with an angry gesture, as if to violently strike a certain someone well known to him with it. "Even the soldiers who escorted him to the SS command can't say whatever happened to him after. Or at least swear they don't know."

"And you... are persuaded it's the work of that Link?" Lavi dared to ask, though fearful of the possible reaction of his Commander to such a question.

"He's challenging me, that damn guy!" Kanda snapped angrily, slamming his hands on the desk, once again with the only result of throwing on the floor half the documents he was studying. "But he can't hide your grandfather forever, sooner or later someone will talk!"

Lavi smiled, picking up the sheets from the floor and handling them to Kanda, who stared for a moment in surprise, realizing he had just admitted that he took the whole thing very seriously.

"Thank you." Lavi said quietly. "If you don't need anything else I'll go back to work on the translations due for tomorrow's meeting."

The Japanese officer gave a nod of assent, following Lavi with his eyes as the youth left the room afterwards.

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That evening in the dormitory Lavi set about to undress, getting ready to go to sleep, his normally cheerful expression replaced by a frown.

He had just sat on the bed, completely absorbed in his thoughts, when two of the soldiers with whom he had gotten to know better, apparently about to leave judging from the baggage they were carrying, approached him.

"Any news about Bookman?" The shorter of the two asked, a slender young man with sharp features and a prominent nose. He was of Turkish origin according to what he said, but his family lived in Germany since before his birth, so he had willingly accepted his enrollment. "I see you rather downcast, my friend!" The soldier laid a hand on his shoulder, and Lavi gave him a pained look.

"No." He sighed and shrugged, as with a sad smile upon his face addressed his two friends. "Yuu says he could be dead." Lavi then revealed with a hint of bitterness in his voice.

"If you insist on calling Herr Kanda by his first name one of these days he'll have you flogged until you bleed." Said the thin youth, tittering as he made a suggestive gesture.

"Daysha!" Exclaimed the other soldier, this latter of Austrian origin, a tall and burly man but with a gentle expression in the eyes, tugging at his companion with a reproaching look. "Do you think it's the case to say such a thing at a time like this?" The soldier who answered to the name of Daysha turned to him, raising his hands in a surrender gesture and showing an innocent expression.

"I was just trying to keep his spirit up." He defended himself, returning his attention to Lavi. "Hey, cheer up, my friend! Herr Kanda always exaggerates, don't immediately think the worst." Daysha landed a pat on his friend's back, trying to shake him from the state of prostration he has fallen in. "He will find him, you'll see."

Lavi nodded slowly and stood, waiting to know where the two soldiers were heading and how long they would be away.

"Will try." He promised, trying to sound convincing, and half failing at it. "It's hard for me t'live in this environment, I'm not cut out for military life." The redhead smiled again, this time with greater conviction, and Daysha smiled back, pleased with his work.

"Unfortunately we must part, but I'm sure we can still see each other from time to time, and maybe we'll be able to organize some good games of poker." The thin soldier said, embracing his friend.

Lavi stared at him in surprise, confusion that led its way on his tired face.

"We wanted to say goodbye before moving on." Daysha explained, touching Lavi's chin with a balled fist, in a playful gesture. "And recommend you to take care of yourself."

"We have been promoted. We're Corporals now." revealed the other soldier, nodding as in response to Lavi's unspoken question. "We're moving in the sub-officers' room. But we'll stay in touch, it's a promise. If you need us, you can always count on our help." The taller youth embraced his friend as the three said goodbye to each other, and then Lavi sat on his bed again, looking at the two soldiers going away.

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As they were out of earshot, Daysha addressed to his comrade the question that was dancing inside his head since the moment Lavi had told them about Bookman.

"Marie. You too think that Bookman is dead, right?" The other youth gave a nod with his head, his expression serious. "I would have bet on it, you're a big liar, y'know?" Daysha looked at his friend, raising an eyebrow with clear accusation in his expression.

"I'm not the one who gave him a false hope." Marie protested quietly. "Poor Lavi, we should mention this matter to General Tiedoll, maybe he could lend a hand to Commander Kanda." The two non-commissioned officers exchanged an eloquent look, and Daysha fully agreed, albeit with some concern more than his friend.

"It doesn't take a genius to figure out who is the one behind Lavi's grandfather disappearance." He said, rubbing his chin thoughtfully and swinging the small bag containing his few possessions he held in his other hand, as both men continued to walk toward their new dormitory. "Herr Link is a dangerous man, it is common saying that he has very high friends among the Reich's leaders. Herr Kanda had better be cautious."

"All of us had better be." Marie pointed out in a worried tone. "Very cautious".

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Left alone again with his thoughts, Lavi took casually in his hand one of the few books he could bring with him in the dormitory, intending to read until they was ordered the 'turn off the lights'.

He opened it carefully, turning over the first pages and immersing himself with interest into the reading; the volume was about Greek myths, a subject that Lavi particularly loved, and the young man lingered long over facts and legends regarding the constellations.

The Zodiac signs birth had always fascinated Lavi. He reread these topics each time with pleasure, dreaming of the heroes who took part in the events, imagining every detail with extreme accuracy.

Tired, he grabbed the thin strip of cloth that served as a bookmark, moving it to the page which he had arrived and then putting the volume back, intending to sleep, when a sheet of paper fell from its inside.

Lavi watched it with curiosity, wondering what kind of notes he could have left inside the book, and being baffled by the discovery he made: the sheet of paper was a message from Allen.

_"Search for the Sagittarius,"_ was written in capital letters on it, and an image of the celestial Centaur, in the act to stretch his bow toward the stars surrounding him, was very skilfully drawn in its center.

It looked like it was the leaflet of some place, maybe a nightspot, but there were no references to any address; it was certain that Allen was trying to show him the place where they could meet without risking that anyone had opened the book could find out.

However, for the moment he too groped in the dark. The second sentence that stood around the drawing, besides, was even more cryptic: "_The fire of the stars indicates your destiny_".

What was Allen trying to suggest with those words? Right at that moment it was ordered the 'turn off the lights', and the analysis of whatever thing was agitating itself now in Lavi's mind had necessarily to be postponed until the following day.

The young man closed the book leaving the leaflet inside it, and cuddled up under the blankets to enjoy a well-deserved rest.

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Strange dreams took possession of Lavi's subconscious that night, and the youth found himself transfixed by the Sagittarius arrow whose myth he had read in his book; the creature had come up with a friendly attitude as if it knew him, and suddenly it hadn't four legs anymore but two, covered with short fur, like it was rather a satyr, and brandished its bow against him.

The archer's face was suddenly illuminated by light and Lavi recognized the figure as Allen, who was smiling reassuringly at him. And with that smile he aimed his bow, shooting an arrow that stuck into Lavi's heart; then the whitish mass of the youth's hair turned to a mane, and his body-shape became completely horse-like, a white stallion, with... with a horn on its forehead... and trampled on him.

Lavi awoke with a start, bathed in sweat but happy that it had been just a bad nightmare; he brushed a hand on his forehead, slowly laying back down on the bed, his breathing irregular and his heart beating wildly.

Allen's message was a trap, he was sure of it, and the dream suggested the same conclusion; nevertheless, the redhead was determined to decipher that riddle and then meet his ex-friend. Maybe someone in the boy's acting sphere might have heard something about the detention's place in which his grandfather was held.

The day passed between the endless meeting of SS leaders, in which it was decided the security measures to adopt in order to prevent public demonstrations against the Reich, given the recent disorders due to the dissolution order against all political parties being part of the now late Weimar Republic's electoral system, and the organization of the forces that would put into action these measures.

This leaving Lavi not having had a single moment to reflect on the mysterious leaflet and its invitation to look for the Sagittarius. So when at evening he came back to the dormitory, the redhead was quite impatient to study again the images and phrases on the mysterious paper. _'The fire of the stars_', what could it be referring to?

"Hey, Lavi! Serving under Commander Kanda made you reduce yourself to reading the horoscope?" Another recruit mocked him, seeing he was staring enraptured at the image on the leaflet. "Burn that stuff, it's better, they just worm money out of you!"

_Burn_... The word echoed in Lavi's mind as the response from an oracle, and the young man instantly roused himself, his only eye exaggeratedly open because of the revelation that had just hit him.

"Oh, it was exactly what I was goin' t'do!" He said chuckling, rubbing his head with an embarrassed gesture; immediately after, he was rummaging through his stuff under the dorm's bed looking for a candle.

He should have thought about this at once, someone like Allen could only resort to that kind of protection for any message! Simple, yet unexpected, because too stupid as a way to let coded information filter in...

Having found the candle, Lavi lit it without caring if anyone was watching him, and positioned the sheet of paper over the flame, taking care that it was lapped but not burned by it, and soon some blue writing appeared among the stars around the Sagittarius figure. Invisible ink, just as he suspected!

Lavi memorized the address showed and put out the candle, hiding again the leaflet in the book; the next day as he had a free morning, he would go there.

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Lavi had been wandering for over an hour around the quarter indicated in the message, but of the elusive local with the Sagittarius insignias there was not even the shadow. Yet he was sure he wasn't mistaking it, the place was certainly this one, even if the address wasn't accurate, Allen and his friends' haunt had to be nearby; the question was _only_ to find it, of course...

While those thoughts were crowding his mind, the redhead passed in front of a semi-opaque whitish glass wall, on which some flashes of blue caught his attention. He suddenly spun around to look better at it.

To his left, on that window, there were really painted some stars, even though he couldn't say whether or not they formed any constellation; yet the lines between them suggested something else, and Lavi backed away a few steps to have a full view of the panel.

Sometimes his blind eye was a very annoying limitation, when the surfaces to observe were so wide! The figure that could be distinguished, shaded, among the stars, was exactly the one on the leaflet: the Centaur who stretched his bow, the astral symbol of Sagittarius.

He had found it; that was the place. However, it didn't seem to be a placeto gather, it was a common shop. Lavi entered feigning indifference, and found himself inside a bakery.

Although he was very surprised about this discovery he didn't show it at all, pretending to observe the various specialties produced by the baker who ran the shop, and after several minutes he was in, Lavi approached the counter to cautiously ask for information.

The bizarre-looking man who welcomed him couldn't in any way be German, with a complexion so dark, his unusual hairstyle that separated his hair into two low ponytails, tightly bandaged for almost their entire length, and a red chakra he had painted on his forehead. Everything was completed by a pair of dark glasses with an unlikely shape, as if they were the result of Komui's warped mind; so maybe it was the right place after all, it was worth it to give it a try.

"Mornin'. I was sent here t'speak with a person, a certain Allen Walker." Lavi said as he was the only remaining customer in the shop.

The man, who presumably had Indian origins according to the young Bookman's knowledge, immediately changed his expression. He stopped smiling and looked at him from head to foot.

"I don't know anyone by that name, I'm sorry my boy." The baker answered, resting one elbow on top of the glass that protected the counter and bowing his face to meet his clenched fist, the sly smile he had just a while ago reappearing on his lips.

"You sure?" Lavi showed him the leaflet, and the man raised an eyebrow. "Allen sent me this together with directions to get here." He explained, still hoping to be recognized, in case his interlocutor's reluctance was due to a suspicion that he might be an officer of the Reich's police forces.

"I admit it looks like the design on my window, but I've never seen that leaflet before, my boy." The baker insisted without changing pose or expression. Lavi sighed, he wouldn't ever be able to get anything out of the man. He muttered a 'thank you', turning to leave the store, followed by the Asian's sinuous voice answering cheerfully. "But if you're passing by any other time, do drop in!"

The man followed Lavi going away from his shop 'till the youth was out of sight; he then closed the door and disappeared into the back-shop.

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As soon as he was out, Lavi sighed again. It was a total failure, but the place could only be that one, he was absolutely certain of it. Perhaps different people were working in the shop and the man wasn't the _right_ baker to address that particular question...

The youth paused, still looking at the Sagittarius on his rumpled sheet of paper and its enigmatic message, as suddenly the touch of a hand grabbing onto his shoulder made his heart nearly stop with fright.

"Lavi! How long!" A hardly breathless voice addressed him in a mellifluous tone.

Automatically Lavi clenched both fists to his chest, involuntarily crumpling the leaflet, and looked back at the owner of that voice sounding so familiar; his only eye met the ice-blue ones belonging to Allen Walker, who was staring at him smiling with an angelic air, as if none of the recent events had ever happened.

"Allen!" Exclaimed the young Bookman in surprise, shaking the albino-boy's hand off him with firmness. The latter bent on himself, placing each hand just above his knees, gasping: it looked like he run at breakneck speed to catch up with him. The English youth moved away from his face a lock of that white hair of his, nodding back as to say that, yes, it was really him. "The baker advised ya, it's so, right? The place was that one then."

"Who knows? I might have met you by chance." Allen answered straightening himself up, his breathing now almost regular. He shrugged his shoulders with studied carelessness, but his amenable smile said a lot about the fact that he was lying. "Why did you decide to come looking for me, anyway?" The boy asked casually, but with a light in his eyes that betrayed extreme interest in the whole thing.

"Could we talk somewhere more private?" Lavi proposed, which Allen's quite laboured German always gave the impression that the youth was hiding something; in private they could speak English, so he would be able to better identify truths and lies.

"Follow me." Allen beckoned him as he got underway.


	5. Chapter 5: News

**DISCLAIMER: I don't own D. Gray-man, UNFORTUNATELY all is into the hands of that crazy woman whose name is hoshino... Because if it was otherwise... D. Gray-man manga wouldn't have become a shapeless and disgusting jumble of nonsenses, and Lavi would have been together with Kanda from a VERY LONG TIME!**

**WARNING: YAOI - if you don't know what this word means, or if you don't like boy/boy relationship this story is not for you, don't say I didn't tell you! You know the song, DON'T LIKE DON'T READ!**

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**_WARNING N.2!_ Mention of racism and violence (this is mainly in later chapters)! Please note that I in no way am encouraging or approving of racism. It's just that to keep the story as possibly close to its historical period, I must use terms, ways of thinking, and behaviors proper of the factions involved in WWII. So, if references to Nazism or to its ideology is offensive to you, please refrain from reading. I don't want flames about it. I want to make it clear that I don't approve in any way Nazi's actions and that I'm not a racist, I'm just using the historical setting as a background.**

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**6 JUNE 2011, HAPPY BIRTHDAY KANDA!**

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So with Kanda's Birthday this year too starts the third LaviYu Festival!

**Welcome to the _LaviYu Festival_, now at its third year!**

For those who still don't know what the hell I'm talking about, let's make a brief look up over it.

The Festival, supported by the LaviYuu fans from all over the world, placed itself between Lavi and Kanda's two Birthdays, beginning with today, 6 June 2011, Kanda's Birthday, and culminating with the LaviYu Day, that was chosen exactly in the middle of their two Birthdays, on 8th JULY, to then end on 10th AUGUST with Lavi's Birthday.

This year the celebration has a couple of contest like last year, and of course we all are invited to post our stuffs during the whole period of the Festival. Check them out, the links are in my profile ^^

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Yeah, finally the new chapter is done. Once again, sorry for the long wait.

I want to thank all of you who patiently waited for my updates, even if between translating and having the chapter betaed always pass over a month^^" (when I don't have other business to take care of, 'course)

Also, once again I will answers to reviews here, I'm sorry I didn't do it immediately by e-mail.

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**taste the rainbow eat crayons**: Thank you^^ I'm doing my best, and since I'm not mother language what you say means really a lot to me!

As I said several times, in Italy readers don't express their opinion on the story, we are too close to the core of the war, still ashamed of what happened to say "I like it" to something using those umpleasant happenings.

**my perspective**: I'm really happy you like the story, and sorry I made you wait so long^^

**karina001**: Allen is smart, we know it, and he surely will try to get Lavi's unintentional help.

**seiyuurabu**: You trust me too much, as you realized I'm not so fast sometimes XD But, since I was afraid you still had to work, I sent the chapter just to EM1 (I think ^^"").

Glad you enjoyed chapter 4! I seriously love this story as one of the favourite in my personal top four. I put so many effort in researching and studying the historical background, so I really wish to do a good job telling facts over a time span that long.

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As always, a big THANKS to EM1&EM2, aka Saxon-Jesus who did the beta work for me, being so patient and helpful!

I love you!

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**FROM TO DOOMSDAY DOOMSDAY**

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**Chapter 5: News**

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The restaurant where Allen took him looked like a private night club, one of those places where people, as evening fell, gambled non-stop under the sounds of one low cabaret number and the next, drinking and smoking until collapsing unconscious to the ground, or on the dirty tables.

The place was also equipped with private rooms, whose use was not hard to imagine, and Allen led Lavi into one of these, sitting in front of him.

"Here we can talk undisturbed." The albino boy started in English. "So, what drove you to take this risk?" Allen's tone was genuinely curious, almost surprised, Lavi noticed immediately, as if he expected to never see him again, although he left him that coded message allowing him to find the boy.

"My grandfather." The redhead immediately admitted, going straight to the point without unnecessary circumlocutions. "Was wondering if you had any news 'bout 'im, or if you could be able t'get any." Upon hearing this question the wonder on Allen's face greatly increased, and his expression became almost mocking.

"What is it, your dear Commander Kanda ditched you after he had you enrolled by deception?" He said in an amused tone, leaning on his elbow; insinuation that, for some absurd reason, the nature of which escaped Lavi at the moment, irritated him to the point he wanted to close the albino's mouth with a punch.

"Yuu has..." Noting the smirk that appeared on the boy's lips as hearing him say that name, Lavi immediately corrected himself. "Commander Kanda did everything possible, but there's another SS officer who thwarts 'im." He revealed with a sigh; Allen immediately stopped grinning, suddenly alarmed. "A certain Howard Link, was the one who had my grandfather transferred to goodness knows where, 'cause of his antipathy toward Y-Kanda." He concluded, stammering again at saying _that_ name. He couldn't help it.

Lavi moved uncomfortably on the wooden bench where he was sitting, expecting Allen to throw in his face that he warned him it would end up like this. The British boy instead said nothing, merely scratching his head, thoughtfully.

"I'll see what I can do." Allen then offered, giving Lavi a friendly pat on the shoulder and smiling reassuringly at him. "I will ask my contacts. Some of them should arrive here shortly, though, why don't you stay a bit?" He suggested afterwards, trying to give to his proposal a casual tone. Lavi stared at him with suspicion; trusting someone in a situation like this wasn't among his few viable options. "I won't ask you to disclose information, I promise!" The albino boy added, holding out his hand for him to take it.

Lavi was not the slightest convinced that the other youth didn't intend to try to make him talk about reserved subjects, but he held out his hand all the same, grasping Allen's.

"M'kay, but I can't stay long, 'm on my day off only 'till mid afternoon." He pointed out at once to avoid being stuck the whole day.

"How do you find serving under that Kanda?" Allen asked immediately after. "I seemed understand that you two are very familiar." The corners of his mouth curved into a smile – a smile with closed lips – an angelic one, one he used to direct toward Lavi when they still lived all together, and that sent shivers to the young Bookman's spine.

"I'm his interpreter, I'm precious t'him. So, yes, he treats me well." Lavi found himself answering before he could prevent his mouth from doing it, because maybe he was actually providing the information that Allen protested not wanting to ask him. "But he gives me no confidence at all, he's just resigned to the fact I can't help it but call 'im by his name." He ended with an ironic tone, hoping that the British boy took the hint.

"I'm glad to hear it; I was afraid for you." Allen said, nodding, without stopping to stare at him.

Lavi smiled faintly, trying to give some credibility to his expression, despite smiling was being the last thing he felt like doing at that time. The waiter interrupted this demonstration of faked joy, placing on the table two cold drinks and exchanging with Allen an understanding glance, receiving a positive nod in reply.

"_Oh, I'm absolutely sure that you were concerned about me,_" Lavi thought witnessing the scene.

"Guess that you haven't had any problems as well." He said instead, while examining the glass before him, full of an amber liquid, and then smelling its contents.

He didn't have the time to taste it though, because a loud cry caught his attention, and two slender arms grabbed him around the neck making him almost fall off the bench he was sitting on. The girl who had just screamed his name was, of course, Lenalee.

"Lavi! Are you okay?" She asked in a whisper, clutching hold of him with all her might, and the young Bookman almost had to force her to let him go, making use of Allen's help.

"Lenalee, let Lavi breathe." Urged the latter, moving her away with kindness from the youth she still regarded as a dear friend.

He then acquainted her about the reason why Lavi was now there, and Lenalee was also unanimous about the fact that someone among their friends could find out where the old Bookman was held.

"Would you like to hear me sing?" Proposed the Chinese girl with enthusiasm. "I was about to begin the rehearsals, please move into the common room." She announced, vigorously shaking Lavi's hands and at the same time exchanging a quick glance with Allen. The happiness that lit up her face seemed sincere, and Lavi couldn't say no.

"I'll stay a lil' longer," he accepted, returning her smile with just a hinted one, more genuine this time, "but no more than a couple of songs, or I'll be late and get punished." Lavi pointed out again.

Lenalee smiled enthusiastically, dragging him towards the stage with her and having him sit at the nearest table to it; then she got on the bandstand, preparing herself for the exhibition.

Lavi listened, ravished, and without realizing it he brought the glass that Allen had moved from the private room to his lips, enjoying the cocktail it contained with relish. Allen did the same with his own, and both the youths were won by Lenalee's voice, so intense and harmonious, so full of emotion. The first song was just over, and Lenalee was preparing to sing the next one, when Lavi let out a strangled sound, making Allen turn toward him at once.

"Lavi!" The British boy exclaimed, scared to see him collapsing on the table, his glance becoming suddenly empty, his body slamming on the wooden edge, out of strength. Even Lenalee turned her head at them, clearly alarmed.

"Allen!" She cried running to him. "What was the need to drug him!" The girl tried to raise Lavi's head, then his upper body, hoping he would come back to his senses.

"I didn't do it! I don't know what's happened!" Allen complained with open arms; Lenalee sighed, annoyed, darting a dirty look towards the bar's counter.

"Brother!" She said accusingly, knowing that she was right to suspect he was the architect. "You've something to do with all this, right?"

"Oh, well, I thought you wanted to keep him here..." The man defended himself, settling the weird glasses he was wearing back on his nose.

"It wasn't necessary, Komui!" Allen said in a tone of despair as he helped Lenalee to raise Lavi from the table. "Now he won't trust us anymore!"

"How long does the effect last?" The girl asked instead, a pouting expression and the tone of someone ordering he has to be immediately answered.

"Huh, I don't know..." Komui candidly admitted, and the two youths exchanged a more than disconsolate look as, with the man's help, they brought Lavi to Lenalee's dressing room, where he could rest on a bed waiting for the brew's effect, which the Chinese scientist had administered to him, to be over.

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Lavi woke up in a place he didn't know with a terrible taste in his mouth, and immediately sat up, realizing he was on a bed. He looked around; the room was quite bare, the only furniture besides the bed was a large toilette table with a big mirror, which identified the place as a back stage dressing room. Presumably, he still was in that place of ill repute, and this should be the private space where Lenalee was used to change and make herself up before singing.

He tried to get up but his head felt like it wanted to explode at any moment; besides, everything around him was spinning vortically. He let himself fall back on the mattress, covering his good eye with one hand.

He couldn't tell how much time had elapsed when the door finally opened and Allen appeared in its frame, followed by an anxious Lenalee, who immediately rushed to his bedside.

"How do you feel, Lavi?" She wanted to know, first thing. "You passed out yesterday afternoon! You scared us to death!" The girl added looking at him with apprehension.

He fainted? _Yesterday_ afternoon? Lavi astounded, struggling to sit up.

"Yesterday? What time is it?" He asked in an urgent tone, shifting his gaze from Lenalee to Allen, with a facial expression that said a lot about how much he believed the story of his illness.

"It's five o'clock." The British boy answered, and reading relief on Lavi's tried face he added, "In the morning. I'm sorry."

"You're sorry." Lavi repeated bitterly, shaking his head sadly. "You do know, don't you, that this will cost me dear? I'll end up in a punishment cell... and if it goes well for me, I'll stay there just a couple of days; otherwise..."

"You're not able to leave immediately, rest a bit more." Plead Lenalee gripping his hands hard, still kneeling beside him.

Lavi didn't want to stay there a minute longer, but he was fully aware of the fact that he wasn't actually able to focus on his two would-be friends' faces either, let alone walk to the barracks.

With a wry smile plastered on his face he lied back, and heard Lenalee asking someone to bring her some coffee; he hoped with it to at least be able to stand up, to present himself to Yuu on time at least this morning.

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It was seven o'clock when Lavi arduously reached the dormitory and found it obviously deserted, except for the presence of one person, who seemed thrilled to see him appear at the door: Crowley.

"Lavi!" The soldier wailed, throwing himself at him and grabbing one of Lavi's hands, tears in his eyes. "You're finally back! I thought something had happened to you!"

"C'mon, don't do that, 'm fine. I spent the night at a friend of mine's place, that's all." Lavi explained, hoping that the other recruit would leave him in peace. He had to put on his uniform as soon as possible and dart to report to Yuu, if he didn't want to, at a minimum, be whipped.

"Commander Kanda was searching for you!" Crowley spoke again, looking around cautiously and keeping a low tone of voice, as if revealing some secret.

Yuu sought for him? Lavi gasped upon receiving this news, and at that point he watched his friend with more attention: as a matter of fact, the man seemed rather frightened.

"When?" Lavi immediately asked, grabbing Crowley by the shoulders. The soldier was surprised by his reaction, and hastened to tell what had occurred.

"He came here yesterday in the late afternoon, and seemed to be quite nervous." Crowley muttered as if he feared that Kanda could somehow hear them. "He asked about you to another recruit, and when he was told that you weren't here he looked very upset."

"Shit..." Lavi trembled at the thought of the ticking-off that was awaiting him, certain that Yuu was still furious with him for being gone all day without any permission.

"He waited for you for a while, leaning against the wall outside the dormitory, then he left without saying a word." Crowley kept speaking in a whisper, anxiety clearly visible on his lean features.

"It must have been very important, he'll kill me, I feel it..." Lavi pitifully moaned, adding a broken sigh to emphasize his mood.

"If I were you I would sling myself to his office." Crowley urged him, with the look of one who is certain that his friend is in big troubles. "He came looking for you again this early morning, and when he saw that you weren't returned he made a strange face; I really believed that he was going to be angry with me. Instead, he ordered me to wait for your return and send you to him immediately after." The man once more looked around carefully, then picked up his coat. "I have to take service now, hurry up to go to report or you'll be in a very bad fix!" he exhorted his comrade as he ran away.

"Thank you." Lavi greeted his friend waving one hand, nodding in response.

Fully aware that he couldn't waste any time, the youth stripped unceremoniously, throwing everything on his dormitory bed and grabbing his uniform.

He had just finished putting it on, when he noticed something white protruding from a pocket of the jacket he had just taken off, and immediately seized it. Another leaflet; he opened it, well knowing what he would find inside.

_"Search again for the Sagittarius in five days,"_ was written on it, this time next to the centaur's image. He crumpled the sheet of paper in anger, leaving the dormitory at a run.

Lavi knocked at Kanda's office door, with an unpleasant sensation in his body, a mixture of apprehension and mortification which he had never experienced before. He felt awfully stupid for letting himself be fooled so easily, and certainly couldn't tell Yuu what had occurred to him. Hearing the invitation to enter he put together a good excuse for what happened, and hoped it would be enough.

When Kanda looked up at him, the expression on his face became unreadable and he cast him a scorching glare, and yet Lavi would have sworn he glimpsed for an instant a great relief lighting up that perpetually frowning face, almost as if Yuu was about to get up and hug him.

"Where have you been?" The Japanese officer thundered, startling Lavi with the brutal tone of his question. "You didn't come back last night!"

"I... I'm sorry." Lavi murmured, bowing his head in obvious embarrassment. "I went to visit a friend who runs a music-club, and there was a singer... she was rehearsing... and I drank a bit too much. I'm very sorry." he concluded, tossing his head in a disconsolate manner.

The horrified expression that took hold for a few moments of Kanda's face, before being covered by his usual ice mask, left Lavi very confused.

"You got yourself into a dive to listen a two-bit whore singing?" Kanda's voice was so sharp that Lavi felt almost physically hurt by his words.

"Didn't think you needed me." The youth murmured, weakly justifying himself, conscious that he had violated his orders not coming back to the barracks within the set time, and ready to suffer the consequences, no matter how unpleasant they might be.

"I didn't need you; I had some important news _for_ you." Kanda informed him harshly, but Lavi seemed to capture a hint of bitterness behind that rough response. The Japanese officer moved his attention to the documents before him. "But perhaps you no longer care." He added sarcastically, casting a sidelong glance at Lavi to observe his reaction.

"News? For me?" The redhead stammered, repeatedly blinking, anxiety that formed a large lump in his throat. When Kanda nodded and stood up, frowning, Lavi was almost about to faint from nervous tension.

"I know where your grandfather is held prisoner." The officer simply said, with carelessness, but to the young Bookman it didn't matter. His one eye widened enormously, and his voice got caught in his throat.

He was so happy about this news, so relieved to hear that his guardian was alive and that, God willing, he was well, that he ran to Kanda without thinking, throwing his arms around the man's neck and wrapping him in a liberating hug.

The Japanese officer backed a step towards the window behind him, at a short distance from the desk, the joy painted on Lavi's face which caused a strange feeling in his chest and stomach.

"You idiot, control yourself!" He roared, struggling to break free, but Lavi didn't want to let go, rubbing his face against his commander's chest, muttering an infinite number of 'thank yous'. "What the hell's gotten into you!" Kanda shouted again, hitting Lavi on his back with clenched fists.

The latter raised his face to look at those of the one who he was still holding, realizing what he had just done, and he was about to apologize profusely when the roar coming out of a speaker startled them both.

Lavi finally let go of his commander, and both recovered their composure; Kanda opened the window to see what the hell was going on enough to create all this turmoil and he found himself in front of a parade surrounded by the hugest crowd he'd ever seen.

At that very moment, the speaker diffused a proclamation, and the crowd let out a cry of exultancy.

It was July 14, 1933, and the Nazi Party had just been declared the only allowed party in Germany.

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Lavi lay on the bed fully clothed, exhausted, and closed his good eye, placing his forearm over it, yawning. Finally, the long-awaited news on Bookman's fate: Commander Link had him transferred to the concentration camp Dachau.

It would have been more difficult than what was expected to have him set free, but Lavi didn't despair, also confident in General Tiedoll's support. He sighed. Yuu had been way too generous with him.

_"You're __whacked. Go and rest, for today I don't need you,"_ he had said as soon as the Nazi march had left, leaving him flabbergasted. Instead of punishing him, he had worried about him; he couldn't be so merciless and unscrupulous as everyone said.

Most likely no one had ever been able to get close enough to him to come to know Yuu and understand his reasoning, or more simply, no one apart from General Tiedoll knew his language enough to be able to talk to him about something.

In any case, Lavi liked this Commander so gruff and upright, despite all the rumors that circulated about Yuu, he had a heart like everyone else.

"Lavi!" A rookie called, just having arrived after the changing of the guard. "What are you doing here?"

The youth slowly rose on his elbows, trying to focus on the newcomer.

"Oh, it's you, Suman." He said with a wink, because of the light that had suddenly entered into his eye. "Commander Kanda gave me the day off."

"He didn't punish you for yesterday's absence?" Crowley asked, who had arrived just after Suman with other soldiers, showing he was very surprised to find his friend there, safe and in one piece.

"No, he said he didn't need me today and told me to rest." Lavi muttered, laying back down on the bed and shielding himself from the light. "Probably he had pity on me when he saw in what a state I was in." He added plaintively, pressing a hand on his stomach.

The nasty thing that the idiot called Komui had administered him was beginning to show its side-effects.

Thank goodness he should no longer have to deal with him or Allen, now that Yuu had managed to track Bookman down. If everything went the right way he could meet him soon.

"Kanda the terrible has graced you?" Crowley said, startled, looking around with fear right after, as if Kanda might appear by magic behind him just by the sound of his name. "You have to be very useful to him if he's passed over a so serious rule infraction." The man then whispered like a thief, provoking Suman's hilarity, who gave him a pat on the shoulder to urge his comrade to move and get his things.

"I'm the only one who understands what he says, maybe it's 'cause of this." Lavi answered ironically, turning himself to the mattress and covering his body completely with the blanket.

At that witty remark Suman grinned again, then motioned to two other recruits, who had lingered to listen, to follow him. The two men apparently didn't find funny any of it, and they left the dormitory with dark faces, even if no one paid too much attention to this.


	6. Chapter 6: Repercussions

**DISCLAIMER: I don't own D. Gray-man, sadly.**

**WARNING: YAOI - if you don't know what this word means, or if you don't like boy/boy relationship this story is not for you, don't say I didn't tell you! You know the song, DON'T LIKE DON'T READ!**

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**_WARNING 2!_ Mention of racism and violence (this is mainly in later chapters)! Please note that I in no way am encouraging or approving of racism. It's just that to keep the story as possibly close to its historical period, I must use terms, ways of thinking, and behaviors proper of the factions involved in WWII. So, if references to Nazism or to its ideology is offensive to you, please refrain from reading. I don't want flames about it. I want to make it clear that I don't approve in any way Nazi's actions and that I'm not a racist, I'm just using the historical setting as a background.**

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Yeah, finally the new chapter is ready. Once again, sorry for the long wait. I know, it's exactly what I wrote for the last update ^^"" I can't help with it...

So, again, many thanks to the whole of you who patiently waited for this chapter to be up. I really wanted to finish it earlier, but I couldn't.

Let's say it's my Christmas present, and I'm so happy I could put it up in time, thanks to the help of my 'official' beta and of another friend =^_^=

Merry Christmas to you all!

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Also, once again I will answers to reviews here, I'm sorry I didn't do it immediately through ffnet.

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**Yueaifeng****:** Glad you like it, I'm doing my best for keeping the plot believable ^_^ And yes, it's quite hard having a good plot-line without basing it all on the main characters' feelings. Even if, there will be romance, granted! XD

**Through Darkness and Light:** Late update, I know. I'm totally guilty u_u Thank you for reading, and it makes me happy to know you like so much the way I develope the story plot. I always try to imagine how the life of someone like Kanda could change if someone like Lavi suddenly become part of it, turning his daily routine upside down XD With Lavi around, even a cold man as Kanda is begins to give in a bit.

**Tysunkete:** XD I have a beta, even if I sometimes ignore some of the suggestions she gives me XD About the rest, you know I totally agree with you ^_^

**karina001****:** Yep, things didn't look good in the previous chapter, but now it's all better, right? XD Yes, at the actual story time Dachau was just a 'working camp' and it held prisoner only the opponents of the government, dissidents and the like. It was the first and only operative camp during these years prior of the conflict, the others were about to be build or just started to be. So, actually no one could know what would be happening in the camps.

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As always, a big THANKS to EM1&EM2, aka Saxon-Jesus who did the beta work for me.

I love you!

My thanks also to Seiyuurabu, who first gave a brief overlook to it even if she was busy, and also to Tysunkete, who kindly let me know some other things to fix^^

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As always, if you spot any mistake it's my fault for not following my beta's suggestions XD

Enjoy the chapter!

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**FROM TO DOOMSDAY DOOMSDAY**

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**Chapter 6: Repercussions**

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A few days later, as soon as Lavi appeared in his office, Kanda surprised him with a sudden order, which, as usual, had no apparent explanation.

"Get your coat. We're leaving in five minutes." The man said in a detached tone, as if it was a normal routine leaving with his SS squad.

"Where're we headin'?" Lavi asked, by now accustomed to the hermetic way his commander gave orders. "Suspects t'be questioned? Or an inspection?"

Yet, he wasn't prepared at all to the answer Kanda gave him.

"Dachau." The officer simply said, catching a leather bag, no doubt, containing documents, and his loyal katana. Lavi opened his only eye, unable to articulate any comment regarding the shocking news. "Yes, Dachau." Kanda confirmed, assuming a pleased expression as he read extreme astonishment on his orderly's face. "I got authorization to meet your grandfather."

He could really speak with his old man? See him? Lavi just couldn't believe it, even after getting on the car that would have took them there, but Kanda was truly leading him to Dachau in great secret, and he'd just said he had obtained authorization for him to meet Bookman!

Many, however, wondered the reason for the snap trip of their Commander, especially when the destination Kanda was heading to had leaked anyway: a concentration camp.

At least, those who had passed the news wouldn't haveknown know the reasons, General Tiedoll consoled himself, ignoring the rumors that had spread right after this sudden departure; he hoped that it would take as much time as possible for this news to reach Howard Link's ears.

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Lavi was very impatient but equally fearful about meeting his adoptive grandfather and mentor; he was twisting his fingers nervously as he sat in the Field Director's office, eagerly waiting for the old Bookman to be brought to him.

Kanda, instead, was waiting with icy coldness, standing with his back against the wall beside the door, arms crossed over his chest.

When Bookman came into the room he didn't immediately notice Kanda's presence, his attention was caught instantly by Lavi, or rather, by the clothes that Lavi was wearing. The old scholar walked towards him with decision, a stern gaze that promised appropriate and painful punishment, if the explanation given in this regard would have been not of his liking.

Although convinced that they were alone, Bookman addressed his pupil in Sanskrit, in case the conversation was being recorded or monitored from the outside.

"Lavi! Why are you here?" The old man called out at once in a reproaching tone, a serious expression on his tried face. "What does it mean this stuff you're wearing?" He took another step forward, his apprentice's contrite face telling him that he wouldn't like the answer at all. The door closed behind him in that very moment, and Bookman swung around, realizing the presence of the same SS officer who had had him arrested. "Tell him to leave." He ordered Lavi.

Even if he didn't understand a single word of what the old man had said, the Japanese officer had no trouble guessing what had been the last request from Bookman.

"I don't care what you say," Kanda explained in an icy tone. "But I must be present to ensure that there won't be any conspiracy."

Bookman nodded, moving his attention back to his apprentice, who nodded in turn.

"I hope you have a good explanation for this uniform, Lavi." He then said, staring at the young man from behind his deep black circles with hardness. Lavi met his mentor's gaze, sadly shaking his head, which made Bookman's eyes widen slightly.

"No. I've really enrolled." Lavi's meek tone made his old tutor snap, who, without waiting for any further explanation, raised one hand ready to hit him for the crime he'd just admitted to be guilty of: letting himself get involved with the events.

However, the sound of a blade moving in its sheath, ready to be unveiled, stopped him in the middle of the act, turning him toward the sound source.

Kanda immediately moved away from the wall, taking a step forward, eyes slightly widened with anger and hand ready on the hilt of his beloved sword, throwing the old man a look that clearly said 'If you touch him, you're dead'. A corner of the ex-bookseller's mouth was hardly bent; the man seemed strangely pleased by that reaction.

"Oh, so he took you to heart." He said amazed to his apprentice, sustaining Kanda's gaze, and lowered his hand. "Why?" He then asked, and Lavi looked at him, confused.

"Why?" Repeated the youth, wrong-footed, and Bookman narrowed his eyes, displeased.

"The uniform, you idiot!" He scolded the apprentice, bringing his face close to Lavi's, showing real anger. "There has to be a valid reason for which you joined this madness!" Bookman added next, taking him by the collar, and then immediately letting go of his hold when the sword noise repeated itself.

"Was the only way t'find you." Lavi justified himself, spreading his arms. "I had no choice! This way I can have you set free..."

"With his help, isn't it? You're just a fool." Bookman said in a louder voice startling Lavi, and glanced furtively in Kanda's direction, confirming he was always ready to intervene if the situation degenerated. "Why would someone like him put himself out to help you? Even accompanying you here?"

"I became his interpreter," admitted the redhead. "I'm precious t'im, so he's trying t'help me."

Bookman's eyes widened at this revelation, as he thought about how much confidential information Lavi could have had access to, filling that role.

"What else did you become?" He asked, closely looking at the youth with interest, his question's tone which implied a very different type of relationship. Lavi's confused expression almost got him to smile; sometimes the naivety shown by his apprentice was disarming. "Don't tell me that you don't know what kind of rumors are running on your commander's regard."

Lavi cast his mentor a lost glance. Was it possible that the old man had actually read through the lines of his persona so well to guess what he had done without him giving away the slightest hint?

"He didn't even touch me with a finger, if that's what ya mean, and 'm lodgin' at the barracks' dormitory." He immediately clarified; even if, although it was the truth, Lavi felt terribly embarrassed to protest his innocence for something that, actually, he'd really tried to do. "I see 'im just t'do my job." He lowered his gaze for a moment, and when he returned to hold his mentor's searching one, he revealed all the pain he was feeling. "I... offered 'im my body as a bargainin' chip for yer release, but he refused with disdain." He confessed in a whisper, and Bookman laid his hands on the youth's shoulders with understanding. "When he heard my proposal, he... looked at me in a way... I've never felt so ashamed of myself. The albino boy deceived me, 'cause of 'im I... I risked condemning us both..."

Lavi shook his head, deeply dejected, but instead of addressing him with words of reproach Bookman put on an indulgent expression, and his face softened a little; he was really pleased that Lavi had told him the whole truth.

"With rumors you can climb the mountains, apparently." He said sternly. "You can stay with your commander, then, and learn the other side of the coin, but don't get involved in any way by the events. Do you understand me?" Lavi stared dismayed at his elderly guardian.

"But soon enough you'll be released, and so..." He began to say, but Bookman interrupted him.

"Don't fool yourself stupidly. You have enrolled, there's no way back. Continue your job taking advantage of what I taught you, instead." The man was confident that these events could be used on their behalf, and Lavi's new position could be very, very helpful to him. "We will record these events from both sides. Try to stay alive until the next time we meet, because I'll want all of your records." He urged to the youth, who nodded, although taken aback by the orders he'd just received, and rose from his chair, imagining that this was also Bookman's farewell.

"Hug me now, otherwise _he_'ll ask for explanations." Lavi suggested in a strangled voice, a lump in his throat that just didn't want to loosen seemed to be trying to choke him, threatening to release a tear from his one eye.

"I would have done it anyway, unworthy apprentice." Bookman muttered, and trying to mask the strong emotion he was feeling, he hugged the youth tight to himself.

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Bookman was taken back to his cell, and the concentration camp's director invited Kanda to linger with him for lunch before leaving; though the Japanese commander had no desire at all to listen to the amenities that this man would have certainly said during their conversation, he accepted, pretending to be honored in order not to alienate the other officer.

They also needed all the support that the man was able to give them, if they wanted Bookman back, alive and healthy, other than free. And exposing to him the situation could be a good start to have him by their side.

As expected, being his interpreter Lavi was bearing almost all the weight of the speech, for which Kanda wasn't sorry about at all, on the contrary; if the director took a liking to him, the chances were good that Bookman would be treated better in the meanwhile he was waiting to be released.

Right in the middle of the meal, a soldier was ushered in; the man said that he was bringing important news from Berlin: it was July 20, 1933, and the Holy See had just signed the Reichskonkordat, the Reich's Concordat.

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Kanda immediately noticed a change in Lavi after he met with his grandfather; the youth had found his smile again, and he also started to speak freely, which was extremely annoying.

He was almost tempted to send him straight to sleep with their driver that night, instead of sharing the small hotel room in which they had stopped on their way back.

He vowed to enact some rules about the excessive talkativeness of his attendant once back in Berlin, for the moment he decided to let him get his breath a little, seeing as these were exceptional circumstances.

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The way Lavi had tied himself so fast to the terrible Commander Kanda had provoked opposite reactions among the other SS militants.

The young man had made many friends, sure, but also many enemies, some of them just owing it to the night-club incident for which Allen was responsible, and also because of the mysterious trip to Dachau.

Because, somehow it had leaked out that a relative of Lavi was imprisoned there, and now everyone looked at him as if he was just a disgusting boot-licker.

So, some people began to torment him; a few days after his return from Dachau, Lavi found his things in a mess, as if someone had searched through them for something.

He hoped it was just a chance, but prudently he decided to leave all his books in Kanda's office, taking with him from time to time only the one he wanted to read.

Unfortunately, the youth soon realized that it wasn't at all a random event, as he found himself facing the cover of his bed ripped into pieces and, subsequently, the disappearing of his gun and the ruining of his uniforms, torn while he was washing himself in the showers.

He didn't say a word about all this to Kanda, knowing what would be the consequences for the whole recruits in the dormitory; he instead got Toma to help him to get some new uniforms and another regulation pistol.

The teasing didn't stop, however, becoming rougher and rougher, until it resulted into blatant aggression. The last of which would have ended really bad if two non-commissioned officers close to Tiedoll hadn't foiled it just in time, and thank goodness it was someone with whom Lavi was friends.

He took his head in his hands, dazed and in pain, blood dripping from a long cut across his lower lip, too confused to even try to plug up the wound.

"You all right kid?" Said the more massive of the two soldiers, as he helped him to his feet and handed him a handkerchief to stop the bleeding.

Lavi shook his head and gladly accepted the man's support, limping up to his bed.

"Hey, Marie. What do you think?" The other soldier, shorter and skinny, suddenly asked, showing a knuckle-duster just collected from the dormitory floor.

"That they'll try again." Concluded the one answering by the name of Marie, appearing thoughtful for a moment. "Daysha." He then said. "Inform Herr Kanda immediately."

"No!" Lavi begged them. "I can deal with it, really! Ya inform Yuu, and he'll unleash all Hell; and I don't wanna be hated more than I'm now."

The two soldiers looked at each other, knowing how far Kanda's wrath could go, and yet unwilling to let their friend try to deal with such a situation alone and in secret.

"Lavi, you realize how it could have ended up if we hadn't come here by chance to hear how you were doing?" The slight non-commissioned officer remarked gravely, crossing his arms on his chest and raising an eyebrow with an eloquent air.

Lavi sighed and gave an affirmative nod with his head; yet, he couldn't allow Yuu to terrify all the recruits in the dormitory because of him. Not to mention that doing so would put him in an even more heavy situation.

"I know. But... If Yuu punishes the entire dormitory 'cause of me, things'll get worse, y'know this too." He objected firmly, shifting his gaze between the two friends. "Please. I can defend m'self on my own." He added grimly.

No, he would no longer allow these bastards to have fun at his expense.

"Okay. As you wish then." Marie said for them both, after exchanging a meaningful look with his comrade. "With what happened to them today, they will stay put for a while, but it won't last. At the slightest sign they're going to start it again, let us know immediately. Got it?" Lavi gave him another nod, continuing to press onto his hurt lip.

"Thanks." He muttered, giving a friendly pat on the arm to Marie and then holding out his hand to Daysha, who caught and held it with a sly smile.

"Be more careful from now on. And put some ice on that lip, or it will swell up quite a lot!" The youth warned him acting like a wiseacre, which got Lavi his good mood back.

The young non-commissioned officer was very similar to him in terms of character, Lavi found himself thinking as he watched his two friends walking away; he farewelled them with a hand gesture, two fingers from forehead to his face right side, like he was miming a playful salute, smiling.

Right afterwards, he attempted to give himself a good going-over ahead of presenting himself before Kanda.

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He didn't consider the signs he had on his body, Lavi realized at once when he saw the look Kanda gave him as he entered into his office, and above all the expression that his face assumed.

At first, deep disbelief mixed with concern painted for a moment on those beautiful features, then the first two emotions were quickly masked by anger, and the fierce glare with which his commander looked at him startled Lavi.

Kanda had noticed for a while now that the youth appeared before him sore and full of scratches, but this particular day, when he saw him with a split lip and a tumid face, he decided it was time to put an end to the whole damn thing.

"Lavi." Kanda called for him, motioning with his hand to enter and close the door, and Lavi came in, promptly approaching his commander's desk and putting some files on it. "What's happening?" The officer asked him soon after, his gaze searching into Lavi's only green eye as if he could read by himself inside it the answer he was looking for.

"Oh, nothin' serious, really. I just happened t'have a lil' quarrel with some other recruits." Lavi immediately downplayed, forcing an embarrassed smile upon his face andabsently scratching with one hand his unruly red locks.

The Japanese officer, however, didn't seem to believe the received explanation; he snorted slightly, rubbing his temples with two fingers, eyes closed and brows furrowed. Then, he looked again at him with that cold glare that Lavi had come to know so well.

"Who are they?" Kanda asked in a tone that made shivers run through his interlocutor's spine. "Their names, Lavi. Immediately."

"Listen, Yuu, I don't wanna make things worse..." The youth began to say, but Kanda was inflexible about it.

"Their names, Lavi, or I'll have each and every recruit of your fucking dormitory whipped!" He hissed angrily, standing up suddenly and violently slamming his hands on the desk. "And starting from tonight you'll move into my accommodation. Like any self-respecting orderly, you will have a private room." Kanda added, glaring at him as if with that look he could have been able to pierce him.

"But..." Lavi tried to protest, already imagining the rumpus that the collective punishment would rouse, but also fearing the consequences that the news of his transfer would have on his life.

He was certain that they would make life impossible for him; no one would have dared to approach him anymore, not only those who were tormenting him. He would have felt like a prisoner.

Kanda, however, cut him off again, preventing him from finishing the sentence.

"I don't care if everybody will hate you more!" He thundered, anticipating the objections that he knew his orderly was going to put forward. "If you leave the dormitory they can no longer reach you. Their names, Lavi, or you go pack your stuff. Now." Kanda's tone didn't allow any protest.

Lavi exhaled a deep sigh. He had no choice, and he knew it too well. He was too useful to his commander for him to let someone compromise the work he was doing for him.

"If I obey, leavin' the dormitory, you promise t'spare the other recruits?" Lavi asked in a low voice, as if saying a prayer. Kanda nodded slowly.

And Lavi chose to move.

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That evening Lavi found himself in the unfortunate position to collect his belongings in front of everyone, and tell his friends that he had been ordered to move elsewhere.

When he entered the dormitory it was quite late, half of the recruits had already come back, and many were ready to sleep. He returned the greetings that were addressed to him and after reaching his bed he began to put together his stuff.

Seeing him filling and closing a couple of bags, the two soldiers with whom Lavi was more friendly with approached him, asking him what had happened, worried; they didn't need his answer though, because he turned toward them making clear, with the condition his face was in, what the matter had been.

"Are they transferring you?" The taller and thinner of the two, whom he jokingly called 'Vampire', asked.

"Yeah, I have orders to move." Lavi answered, keeping his voice low, knowing that everyone was listening with interest. Both his friends looked at him surprised. "I'm sorry. Kanda didn't leave me a choice." He justified himself, opening his arms helplessly, and with a sigh he returned to put what was left of his few possessions into the second bag.

"It's because of the brawl you got caught up into?" The recruit with whom he usually played chess asked, fearing that there could be a punishment for him in the air, in addition to the transfer.

Lavi nodded, smiling as usual so that this whole thing wouldn't seem so serious to them.

"Commander Kanda wanted the names of those involved, and I didn't wanna be the snitch, even if those bastards deserved it." He explained to his two friends, glancing significantly to the guilty ones, who were listening at a short distance, pretending to talk to each other. "So he imposed on me t'leave the dormitory."

"And where you were assigned?" Was the next question.

Lavi expected this one from the beginning, and he wasn't willing to give a response to it. He addressed them another smile, shaking his head with a meaningful air, making it clear that he couldn't tell them, at least not in this very moment.

"I'll be fine." He said simply, preparing himself for the farewells. "Try not t'get fleeced playing poker, Crowley." Lavi urged to the 'Vampire'. "I'll be back to play chess with you sometimes, Suman." He promised to the other recruit, and held hands with them both. "See ya, guys!"

He was lifting his bags to leave when the two recruits who had listened to their conversation the whole time came forward, an amused grin on their faces.

"What are you doing, fleeing?" The first mocked him. "Finally had enough?"

"Where are they sending you? To join your old man?" Sneered the other, making meaningful gestures with his arms.

"Not at all." Lavi said in a harsh tone. "And it's none of your business."

"Oh, you heard, the Commander's pet gets cocky now that he was got out of trouble!" The first soldier coupled this challenge hugging himself, feigning fear.

Lavi paid no attention to it, starting to move towards the door.

"Where is _he_ putting you? In the toadies' dormitory?" The other continued to tease in a sardonic tone, barring his victim's path. "So you'll be _his_ new bitch, a big step forward!"

Bursts of laughters filled the room, too close to be accidental, Lavi noticed turning his head slightly; all those present had approached them to enjoy the scene, forming a semicircle. The youth found himself lost: it was now certain that his tormentors' intentions were to beat him bloody again and he had no way out.

"No, I rather think that _he_ would prefer him as a stallion..." The first soldier contradicted his accomplice, moving behind Lavi with a menacing attitude.

Suman and Crowley prepared for the worst, ready to help their friend, even though it could mean becoming targets themselves.

"Lavi." Interjected in that very moment an authoritative voice from the entrance of the dormitory, and its owner looked at his audience with ferocity. "Are you getting a move on, damn idiot?" The man snarled. All eyes simultaneously turned to stare at the figure which had just appeared in the doorway, paralyzed with terror. Commander Kanda, the same Kanda who treated everyone like shit, Kanda the terrible who doesn't even consider the possibility of speaking to a recruit, had lowered himself to come personally to retrieve one of his subjects! "This story ends here." Kanda hissed, his hand dancing around the hilt of his sword, striding forward toward the group of soldiers. "I'll take care of you tomorrow." He promised to the two who were tormenting Lavi. "You will regret it bitterly..." One hand of his young orderly settling on his arm stopped him in the middle of the threat. Lavi shook his head, pleading with his gaze to keep the promise he had made to him; Kanda snorted, clenching his teeth in frustration. "_Che_. Fine." He growled in Japanese, turning then to the soldiers, speaking German again. "You should be grateful to this idiot that neither of you will got hurt." That said, he gestured at Lavi to precede him, and after casting another murderous look at the whole dormitory's occupants, Kanda made his way to follow his orderly, leaving the most absolute silence behind him.

Lavi was really glad that Kanda's German didn't go far more than knowing how to tell someone to shut up or utter some threats, albeit roughly; otherwise he would never let the two recruits get away with the allusions they had made on his behalf, because Lavi was certain that Yuu had heard everything. Only, most likely, he didn't understand much of it.

Once out of the dormitory, Kanda walked past him without saying a word, furious, and Lavi followed him obediently with his belongings all the way to the officers' quarters.

The chill in which had precipitated the dormitory room was broken after a few minutes, as another soldier entered in a rush; the man, agitated and panting, announced between a gasp and the other: "Guys, we are officially out!"

The whole room of recruits stared at him in confusion.

It was October 14, 1933, and Germany had just announced its resignation from the League of Nations.

.

.

Once arrived at their destination, Kanda made no reference to what happened in the barracks, nor did he want to know what his orderly was told by those two soldiers.

He simply pointed to the room that Lavi would occupy and then shut himself up in his own, leaving the youth alone with his thoughts.

Lavi settled his stuff in his new lodging, taking a quick look around and so deciding to sleep on it, hoping not to have bad dreams, which, given the recent events he was run over by, was more than likely.

With this change, Lavi found himself spending almost all of his time with Kanda, suddenly projected into the world of officers and NCOs (1).

At first, he felt very lonely because of this, since each evening, after being back at the apartment where he was now staying with Kanda, the latter tended to behave as if he wasn't even present, shutting himself up in his room almost immediately.

Then, just after a few days, he got used to it, thanks to the fact that he got back the company of Marie and Daysha, with whom he started again to entertain at every meal, together with the first man he become friendly to, another non commissioned officer, Toma

When he entered the cafeteria to have lunch that morning, he expected to sit alone as he had done in the past three days, so he didn't even bother to look around to see if he knew anyone.

Instead, surprisingly, two well-known voices called his name one after another, making him almost jump in surprise, threatening to topple to the ground the entire contents of the tray he was holding.

"Lavi!" Two of the soldiers sitting at a table not far from him said almost in unison. "Lavi, oh, my God, you're well then!" Continued the one with the more massive build.

"Come here, sit down, tell us everything!" Echoed his comrade.

Lavi had a little difficulty before finding them, still shaken by the risk he had just run to skip his lunch by donating it to the floor, but once he recognized who it was, his face shone with joy.

Marie and Daysha were still in Berlin! He believed they had been sent elsewhere, not seeing any of the two during the past days. He sat down with them willingly, immediately forgetting his bad mood.

"Not much t'tell." He declared, once his lunch was safely placed on a solid table. "Yuu ordered me t'leave the dormitory after the attack from which you saved me. Now I've a private room, as 'is personal attendant, in the lodgin' he lives in."

The two friends cast Lavi a look of surprise, both suddenly stopping in their eating.

"So it was true." Said the more slight one, who answered by the name of Daysha. "We thought it was the usual rumors, you know, well..." He gestured as if to imply something.

"I know which kind of rumors are goin' around." Lavi snapped, tired of being pointed at as the pastime of their commander. "He treats me well and I don't sleep with 'im." He made it clear once and for all.

Daysha raised his hands in a surrender gesture, as if he didn't expect at all his friend's indignation, but rather a counter-quip.

"Hey, hey, don't get angry, it was a joke." He said with a smile, under Marie's stern gaze.

"Lavi!" Just then another voice called out from behind him; the youth turned around, recognizing Toma as the man approaching them. "I thought he didn't leave you here eating alone." He commented as soon as he joined them.

"Doncha start with these jokes too." Lavi complained, assuming a sulky expression. "The fact that Yuu... Herr Kanda, has got me out of trouble doesn't mean that he's my nurse, quite the contrary. If I suddenly disappear he wouldn't even notice. Most of the times he doesn't even talk t'me." He ended with a tone that was meant to be sarcastic and instead sounded rather bitter.

"Oh, don't worry; Herr Kanda is just like that." Toma stated, landing a pat on Lavi's shoulder and letting go of a laugh. "You'll get used to it soon. I've been through it before you, I know how he thinks."

Lavi gave him a polite smile and began to devote himself to his meal, now cold.

"Yeah." He agreed. _Let's hope so_, he mentally added. Well, at least now he had someone to talk to, since Yuu didn't.

.

.

Lavi felt almost euphoric. His life had regained stability, in spite of the pessimism which he'd been prey to after the transfer from the dormitory; he could now concentrate solely on his work.

He was confident that being officially alongside Kanda would soon have led him to receive the announcement of Bookman's freeing, which unfortunately for the present had been impossible to obtain yet, because of the interferences by Howard Link.

Lavi had witnessed a violent quarrel between Herr Link and Kanda before General Tiedoll's presence, and that Link guy was accompanied by the soldier who had pointed out the origins of his name the day when he and Yuu had first met.

Regrettably, everything was resolved in a 'stalemate'; but the General had urged Herr Link to be reasonable and to endorse the release of Bookman Senior, both because the old man was recognized not guilty of the offense he was charged with, and because he now was a relative of an esteemed Reich's soldier.

Which was why Lavi was confident about receiving good news soon.

Meanwhile, he continued to carry out his job as an interpreter under Kanda's orders, which led him to discover certain circumstances rather inconvenient for him, if what he suspected turned out to be true.

And the matter was that his commander seemed to be more than ever involved, with the whole SS squad under his orders, in the hunt for a group of seditionists headed by a Jew with very high friendships among the Reich's leaders.

What if he knew who those seditionists were? What if Kanda came to know about this?

Of course, there was not only one subversive group existing, but each time he heard the word 'seditionist' or 'subversive' connected with some investigation, he couldn't help but think of _this _particular group.

Exactly regarding the damn investigation, General Tiedoll had secretly convened his pupil, and now Kanda was inside the man's office, while he was waiting outside; the discussion's topics were evidently too important to let a simple recruit as he was to listen, and his presence wasn't even necessary because the General was perfectly able to speak Japanese.

So Lavi resigned himself to it and patiently waited.

.

.

Kanda sat in front of General Tiedoll, not too curious to know the reason why the man convened him, but suspecting it could be something related to the mysterious Jew who revolved around the notorious Count Jahrtausend.

The General, after greeting him even too friendlily with one of his 'Yuu-kun, I'm glad to see you, you look fine' that so made him fly into a rage, didn't lose time in further preambles and drew from a drawer of the massive desk a few very wrinkled sheets of paper, handling all to him so he could examine them.

"What does this mean?" Kanda asked as soon as he finished looking through the leaflets, completely baffled by what was depicted on each of them.

"For now, we don't know." Tiedoll informed him, absently rubbing his chin. "What's certain is that this is the method our seditionists group uses to communicate." Kanda raised an eyebrow, not too convinced about it, and the General continued his speech. "The words written below the drawing mean 'Search for the Sagittarius'."

Here, that information made sense to the Gestapo's suspicions, and to the fact that the investigations had been transferred to him, which means to the SS secret police.

Kanda studied the fliers better. The centaur who stood out in them seemed to indicate the stars with his arrow, but there were no other writings on the paper; surely the message that they were meant to transmit was to be extrapolated by combining the invitation to seek the Sagittarius with the creature's position.

"Where were they found?" The Japanese officer wanted to know, hoping that this would provide some more clues about the purpose of those publications.

"In several nightclubs, in the places where usually students gather, in various churches, on public squares' seats..." Tiedoll briefly listed, shaking his head sadly. "The suspicion is that one of the Reich's opponents is planning to make an attempt against our Chancellor, and this hypothesis is supported by the presence of a well-known Jew collaborator on each of the places where these leaflets were found."

The same man present on all the locations in which right after had appeared those drawings' prints. Definitely this coincidence was suspicious; anyone who had noticed it was right.

"Very well, his name?" Kanda asked, irritated by the inevitable hem and haw of the General.

"Tyki Mikk." Tiedoll finally revealed, showing several photos of the man which portrayed him in the company of a noble wearing a very snobbish appearance, monocle on his face, buttonhole flower and tuba, and of a little girl with a cheeky air. "We believe that he is the 'Sagittarius', and we're already surveilling him. From now on you will be in charge of this matter, because it could be related to the leakage of confidential information on which you were already investigating on behalf of our two governments."

Kanda carefully observed each and every photo, studying their suspect's physiognomy like he was going to hunt the man personally the following day.

"He means nothing to me." The Japanese officer said with indifference, returning the photographs to his superior; Tiedoll smiled good-naturedly, settling into his chair more comfortably.

"No wonder, you don't frequent the worldly environment of the Reich." He stated as fact, to which Kanda gave him a disgusted look. "No, I'm not asking you to chase after him to the parties given by the cream of the Party," The man assured his pupil at once, handing him a copy of the dossier on the case. "But to place one of your soldiers right behind him."

"Will be done." Kanda assured, standing up and saluting the General. "I'll keep you informed."

And on the nod he received in response he took his leave.

.

* * *

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**Notes:**

1) NCO: Non-Commissioned Officer.


End file.
